Digimon International
by Tinyrocket
Summary: OC humans, Pre-Existing Digimon. In an universe where any kid in the world could get a Digimon and be able to enter the Digital World, things turns for the worst when the portal between the human and Digital world closes and natural disasters had been appearing recently. Now six kids and their partner Digimon are now forced to make the best out of a bad situation.
1. The Flame Of Adventure Is Lit

Our story begins within one of the many places of Massachusetts. Boston. Particularly in the sunny countryside where the farms were. It was a lovely day as the birds sang happily as there was not a cloud in the sky.

Next to a big red farm was a house. The sounds of something sizzling were heard from the outside as the scent of something divine flew its way outside. There, a middle-aged woman hummed happily as she cooked food on a stove in the kitchen.

Sitting in the next room was a man about the same age as her reading the newspaper to see what was going on in the world. Suddenly, the two of them heard what sounded like rushing footsteps heading down the stairs.

The man gave a small smirk. "Here he comes…"

It was then someone had practically sprinted down the stairs. He was a young man in his late teens with a wide grin and green eyes that sparkled with excitement. He wore a red checkered long-sleeved shirt, a jet-black bandana, blue jeans and brown boots. The most noticeable thing was a pair of goggles that rested on top of his head.

"Morning, folks!" The young man yelled happily.

"Morning, Jasper." The woman said from the kitchen.

"An early bird as always, aren't we, Jasper?" The man said without looking up from his newspaper.

"Hey, pops, I am a country boy! I live for the sunrise!" The young man grinned before taking a seat so he could sit down.

"Heh. That's my boy." The father chuckled.

"So what are we having for breakfast?" Jasper said immediately grabbing his knife and fork.

"Oh, nothing special. Just some good old sausages and eggs!" The mother called out.

"Sweet! Food, food, food!" Jasper chanted banging his fists on the table.

"All right, all right, I heard you the first time." The mother said walking into the dining room with some plates with food on them. "Okay, breakfast t…"

She then froze before looking at the table to see her husband and son. She paused before looking exasperated.

"Jasper, where is your sister?" The mother said flatly.

The teenager's grin vanished as he waved it off. "Probably still sleeping."

The mother narrowed her eyes. "Jasper, you know that we should eat together like a family."

"Hey, tell HER that!" Jasper pointed out. "If you are that upset with not letting her breakfast go to waste, I will have it."

"If you don't go upstairs and get your sister, I will waste YOUR breakfast." The mother threatened.

Jasper's eyes bugged out at this. "What!?"

The mother merely glared at her to confirm that she wasn't joking around. Jasper looked in horror before turning towards his father who still had his head in the newspaper.

"Dad!" Jasper whined in an attempt to get support.

"Listen to your mother, son." The father said. "You know as well as I know that she dominates the kitchen."

Jasper was about to counter that before quickly realizing that he was beat and admitted defeat with a sigh.

"All right, all right, I'll go get her." Jasper whined.

The mother immediately perked up. "That's a good boy! I knew you would listen to reason!"

"Reason? You are practically blackmailing me into it!" Jasper muttered.

The mother narrowed her eyes. "What was that?"

Jasper jumped with a wince. "Um, I mean I am into it!"

With that, he ran off towards the stairs practically rushing up them. The father looked to see his son running up. He then gave a small smirk.

"And that is why I fell in love with you." The father chuckled.

Meanwhile, Jasper slumped down the hallway looking annoyed that he couldn't eat his breakfast immediately.

"That stupid sister of mine." Jasper muttered. "Why do we have to wait until SHE wakes up?"

He then walked in front of a door. He let out a deep sigh before knocking his fist around it a few times.

"Yo, sis, wake up! It is time for breakfast!" Jasper called out. All he got was silence. He rolled his eyes. "Come on! Our meals are going to get cold!"

Again, nothing but silence. Jasper growled before putting his hand on the doorknob and turning it letting himself in. He then stomped inside to see a messy room with the curtains drawn in preventing any sunlight inside. He was quick to notice a figure lying underneath the covers.

Jasper's eyebrow twitched before heading over to the window. "Honestly, asleep on such a beautiful day…"

With that, he grabbed the curtains and pulled them apart filling the entire room with sunlight. This immediately made the figure underneath the covers groan in pain.

"Oh no… Don't tell me it's morning already?" She complained with the covers muffling her voice.

"Yes, it is! Now get up! It is time to eat!" Jasper ordered.

"Ugh… Why do we have to eat breakfast so early?" She whined.

Jasper's eyes widened. "Early? It is only eight o'clock!"

The figure underneath the covers immediately threw them off revealing that she was quite tall and in her mid-teens with the same eyes as her brother. Her brown hair was completely ruffled by bed head as she looked at Jasper in disbelief.

"ONLY eight o'clock! Most of my friends aren't even up until ten!" The girl complained.

"That is because they don't work on a farm." Jasper said wagging his finger. "As a farm kid, it is natural to get up so early."

"That is stereotyping, Jasper…" The girl scolded before lying back down on her side. "A NEGATIVE stereotype I may add."

"How the hell is waking up early a negative stereotype?" The brother snapped before rushing over to the girl grabbing her. "And what do you think you are doing!? Like hell I am going to let MY food go to waste because of YOU!"

"H-Hey!" The girl said struggling to break free. "L-Let go!"

"Yeah right! If I let you get your way, you go sleep until one!" Jasper said literally dragging his sister out of bed.

"What is wrong with you!?"

"What is wrong with me is that I am hungry!"

"I should have known this was about food!"

"So I am a glutton, sue me!"

"I will if you pull off my arm!"

"Ha! Like you have the time to do so!"

The mother looked up upstairs hearing the sounds of a struggle and her children fighting. "Um, do you think we should go up there?"

"Probably but that would involve getting involved." The father said without looking up.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Eventually Jasper managed to drag his sister all the way out of her room. Realizing that she was defeated, she sighed before accepting Jasper's request and going to breakfast without a fight. Soon, all four family members eat their breakfast.

As they ate, the mother looked at her daughter in discomfort as she was dressed in only her pyjamas and had a large case of bed head.

"Ruby, it would be grand if all of us could eat breakfast without looking at your bed state." The mother frowned.

"Heh. You are asking for a miracle there, Ma." Jasper said with food in his mouth.

"Don't speak with your mouth full, son." The father said.

"Sorry, ma, I just don't like getting up early." Ruby apologized before putting a piece of sausage in her mouth.

"So I noticed." The mother muttered. She then brightened up. "So after you finish your morning chores, are you kids going to be doing today?"

Jasper immediately grinned as he looked up. "Oh yeah! Paul, Joe and I are going to spend the day in the city!"

"Oh really? What are you going to do?" The mother asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Playing some video games at the arcade, listening to music, skateboarding at the skate park. The sky's the limit until sundown!" Jasper smirked.

The father chuckled. "Just don't tucker yourself out too much, champ. We still need your arm tonight."

"Of course, pops." Jasper said holding his arm. "I can't go into our bowling night not at full energy."

"Ruby, what about you?" The mother asked getting her daughter's attention.

"Huh? I don't know. Just lay around the barn a bit." The girl shrugged.

"Shocker." Jasper said rolling his eyes. Ruby hardly looked fazed by this.

"Again? Ruby, there is life outside of this barnyard you know." The mother said.

"I know. I just prefer to stay inside." Ruby shrugged before continuing her breakfast.

"Why? There is literally an entire world right in front of you and you want to blow it off by watching the clouds go up?" Jasper challenged.

"Meh. Not my style." Ruby said.

"Such a casual girl. I am not sure where you get it from." The father said.

"Ma says she gets it from YOUR side." Jasper pointed out.

"Hey…" The father muttered as the mother smirked at him.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Later, that day, Jasper and Ruby were doing their chores that they had been assigned to for the time. Their parents were both doing their chores inside of the house leading the teenagers to doing work outside of the house.

Ruby had long bathed and dressed for outdoors. She now had on a light pink long sleeved shirt over red overalls along with brown boots and a blue bandana tied around her neck. She also had on a pair of glasses and had her hair tied into two pigtails.

One of those chores had the two creating small bales of hay and stacking them into a pile. The sounds of various barn animals filled the air as the two worked underneath the bright sun. Jasper seemed to be quite a few feet ahead of his older sister.

"Come on, sis! You are falling behind!" Jasper called out behind him.

"Ugh, I am coming, I am coming! How the hell are you not tired from all of this heat?" Ruby whined.

Jasper stopped in his tracks. "Because I am a farm kid and you should be too!"

"Again, that is negative stereotyping." Ruby muttered.

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Just come on. These are literally the last two anyway."

Ruby scoffed before walking after Jasper. "Okay… I am coming."

Jasper then walked over to a large pile of hay bales and placed it on the top before waiting for Ruby to finally make her way over and placed it right next to it.

"Ugh, glad THAT is over with." Ruby said sighing in relief before collapsing on the hay bale she just put down.

Jasper just rolled his eyes at this. "Okay, "negative stereotyping" aside, how are you NOT used to it by now? It is basically what we do every day."

Ruby merely shook her head. "Too tiring. Doing it a million times doesn't make it any less harder."

Jasper shook his head. "Well, whatever. The sooner we finish our chores, the sooner you could go back to not having a life and I could go back to having a grand one."

Ruby paused before standing up straight. "Well… Seeing that you put it THAT way, we might as well get the rest of the chores over with."

With that, she walked off with Jasper staring at her with a stunned look on his face. He stood in his place for a moment before growling and rushing after his sister with an annoyed look on his face.

"That was supposed to be an insult, Ruby!" Jasper roared in anger.

The younger sibling looked back while still walking. "Oh, if that is the case, then you suck at insulting people."

"How the hell are you so happy about not having a life?" Jasper said with a twitching eyebrow as the two walked over to a fenced area where there were a lot of chickens walking around inside of it.

Ruby shrugged before kneeling down to pick up a basket of chicken feed before entering the chicken fence. "I don't know. I guess by "having a life", that means having a job, hobbies and lots of friends."

Jasper stared in disbelief as he followed Ruby inside closing the door behind him to prevent any chickens from escaping.

"Oh, I am sorry. But if that is your definition of having a life then why did you not get offended?" Jasper challenged.

Ruby merely sighed before throwing some chicken feed on the ground causing most of the chickens to scamper over to her feet eating the food that had been thrown down.

"Well, first off, having a job meaning all waking up early every day and literally work all day until you come home when the sun is setting." Ruby said.

She then made her way over to a part of the area to throw down some more chicken feed where the birds that didn't immediately went after the first helping reacted this time rushing straight over.

"Second off, having hobbies also requires a lot of effort and/or dedication." Ruby explained.

She then looked up at her brother.

"Finally, the people in the school are always going after the latest new trend. If I make friends with any of them, they will most likely drag me into the endless cycle on what is hip or something like that." Ruby said.

Jasper stared in disbelief as to what his sister had said. "I don't believe you. You are that lazy that you are isolating yourself from other people just so you don't have to memorize any new trends?"

"I wouldn't say that. Whenever somebody talks to me, almost always appears in their conversation." Ruby said before mimicking someone's voice. "Oh, do you have a favourite battle monster? Oh, which shop do you currently shop at? It always ends with me saying no and stopping the conversation right there awkwardly."

"But Ruby, you can't just be stuck in the past forever." Jasper warned.

"Why not? It is far too late for me to get into the flow now. Besides, we already got a modern computer in our house." The bespectacled girl reminded.

"A modern compu…" Jasper sputtered before shouting out loud startling several chickens. "That was an outdated model that my friend gave me because he had gotten the latest version of it!"

"There, right there!" Ruby pointed out. "If I get attached to one trend, a next one would just replace it in two months, three tops. It is not worth getting into."

"Yeah but…" Jasper started.

"In any case, this at least reminded me why I loved the country so much." Ruby said walking past her brother. "I could just stay out of the rush there."

With that, she walked towards the entrance of the chicken fence opening it and letting herself out leaving Jasper alone with the chicken eating around oblivious to his solemn face.

He then sighed before holding his head. "That sister of mine."

/-/-/-/-/-/

Meanwhile, in another location, a lone figure stood up straight with a determined look on their face. They then made their way forward with their expression never leaving their face. They slowly made their way towards a larger figure but despite the obvious size difference, the smaller figure continued to advance.

Soon, they stopped themselves right in front of the giant. The small figure paused with a glare before raising its hand up towards the imposing person. This went on for a full five seconds with tension building up with each passing second.

Suddenly, a bright light had been emitted. The small figure's eyes widened when they noticed this.

"My time… It has finally come…"

/-/-/-/-/-/

The rest of the day was pretty simple for Ruby. After finally finishing all of her chores, she had spent most of the day resting in a wide grassy field watching the clouds slowly drift up. It was just the way she wanted it.

Before long, the sun had set down for the day and it was time to come inside for dinner time. After finishing her evening meal for the day, she had gone from lying in a grassy field to lying on top of the couch.

She watched as her family who were now wearing matching shirts each carrying a large heavy-looking black bag in their hand.

"Now, Ruby, are you sure you don't want to come?" The mother asked. "It is far too late to join as an alternate but you could still spectate."

"No, that is okay." The teenaged girl said lying on the couch.

"Aw, come on. It will be fun. There will be…" The mother started.

"Ma, don't even try." Jasper said rolling his eyes. "She is beyond help."

The mother immediately glared at her son. "Jasper!"

"It is all right. I don't even care what he thinks of me." Ruby muttered looking to the side.

The mother paused. "Well if you say so. Just call us if anything comes."

"K." Ruby said.

"Well, shall we be off?" The father explained. "Our match doesn't start soon but I want to meet up with a few friends before that."

"Sure, why not?" Jasper grinned. "Let's go do it."

With that, all three of them had made their way over to the front door. Jasper opened the door allowing his parents to walk out. When they were outside, Jasper cast Ruby a glare. However, his sister didn't seem to notice it as she was too busy trying to get comfortable. Jasper just rolled his eyes before exiting the house closing the door behind him.

Ruby merely lay on her sofa as she saw the shadows of her family walked past the window on their way to the car. A couple of minutes later, she heard the voice of a vehicle starting up and driving away. She smiled before closing her eyes.

"Peace at last." Ruby sighed.

With no parents or brother, she was free to lie on the couch and do whatever she wanted. Which naturally led to doing nothing at all.

However, life had other plans for her.

Behind her standing on top of a desk was the computer she and Jasper was talking about earlier. Because nobody was currently using it, it was off.

Yet the screen suddenly turned on by itself in a glowing flash making a loud noise. Ruby snapped out of her chilled daze when she heard this. Sitting up straight, she looked around until she saw that the computer was on.

"What the hell?" Ruby asked wondering how the device was switched on by itself. She obviously never touched it and if one of her family did it then why was the computer just starting up now?

It was then she saw something that made her pupils shrank in pure fear. Some kind of comet had zoomed out of the computer resulting in a bright flash. Ruby yelped before ducking down in front of the couch and covered her head in a vain attempt to protect herself in case it exploded on the spot.

Ruby winced as she waited for the explosion to come. However after lying down in fear for a few seconds, she opened her eyes realizing that nothing was happening. Slowly gathering her courage, she crept to the couch before peeking her eyes from the top of it to see what was happening.

It was then her eyes widened in shock and horror. In the middle of the floor was some kind of giant candle on a stick. However what caught her attention was that it was creepy red eyes and had some kind of zigzag for a mouth. Even the lit flame on its wick seemed to have a mind of its own as it had eyes and a mouth. The candle itself was looking around as if scanning the area it was in.

Ruby looked in awe not believing what she was seeing. Some kind of living candle was in the middle of her house. She wondered what she should do in a sudden experience like this. Should she try to get some kind of makeshift weapon and fight the creature off or should she actually tried to talk to the thing?

Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to think as the candle quickly noticed her peeking from behind the couch. The candle then narrowed its eyes seeing her.

"You." It said pointing its finger at Ruby. The farm girl yelped before falling backwards onto her rear in shock at the fact that the candle was capable of speech. Said candle hopped on its stick onto the highest point of the couch before landing in front of Ruby. The poor girl scooted her way backwards until she found herself up against the wall with the candle following after her with a stern look on its face.

The candle continued to glare at Ruby as the teenager started to break out in a sweat. It was then it started to make its move.

"Shake my hand." It said.

Ruby paused in her place when the candle said this. The latter then held out its hand in the form of a handshake. Ruby blinked twice wondering how was going on. Was the creature trying to be nice to her? If so, why do so with a stern glare? Ruby shifted her eyes from the candle's face to its hand several times pondering what to do.

Soon, she had finally made up her mind slowly reaching out her hand and moving it towards the candle's hand. Everything felt like it was going in slow-motion as Ruby's hand nearly touching the candle's hand.

The moment she had done so, something incredible happened. In the middle of Ruby and the candle's handshake, something started to glow a bright white light startling both of them. Out of fright, Ruby yelped retreating her hand back.

However, the light had seemed to be stuck to her hand. Ruby stared in shock as the glow continued to shine until it slowly died down. When it did so, it changed form into some kind of object that rested in her hand. She slowly inspected it to see that it was some kind of wristwatch with a dark grey strap and a case that was as red as a burning fire.

The candle watched just as stunned at Ruby at what had just happened. Its lip started to quiver still processing what had happened. Suddenly, its zigzag mouth then created some kind of weird grin.

"YES!"

Ruby jumped when she had heard the sudden shout. She then saw the candle hopping around in circles just like a little kid at Christmas time.

"I got one! I got one! I had finally got one!" The candle cheered. "I had finally got my very own partner! Finally!"

Ruby blinked twice at the candle's spectacle. In the short span of two minutes, so many questions had appeared with little answers. Who or what was this candle? Why did it come out of her family's computer? Where did this strange watch come from? And what was all this about a partner?

Soon, the candle stopped bouncing around to look at Ruby. "Well, I guess that makes us a duo."

Ruby blinked twice. "A duo?"

"Yep, we are partners!" The candle grinned.

Ruby paused not knowing how to react. "Um, I am sorry but I don't think I know I was supposed to be partnered with… weird talking candles."

"Oh right! I got so excited and that I completely forget." The candle said putting its fist to its mouth and coughed. "I am Candlemon and I am a Digimon."

Ruby blinked twice. "A… A Digimon?"

"Yep! It is short for Digital Monster." Candlemon grinned.

"Digital… You mean like those Battle Monsters I kept hearing about?" Ruby asked.

"Well, considering I don't know what a Battle Monster is, I can't say." Candlemon said sheepishly. "I can't really say because I am just like I said. A monster living in a digital world."

"A digital world?" Ruby questioned. "Is THAT why you came out of my computer?"

"That's right!" Candlemon nodded. "I came into the human world to find you."

Ruby pointed to herself with a raised eyebrow. "Me?"

Candlemon happily nodded. It then looked to the side looking unsure.

"Hoo boy. Where do I begin?" It said before looking back at Ruby. "You see, one of the many features of Digimon is the ability to digivolve."

"Digivolve?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, there are six stages, Baby, In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate and Mega." Candlemon explained. "I am at Rookie level. Now there are two types of Digimon. One that could digivolve all the way to Mega on their own and one that could only digivolve to Rookie form."

Ruby blinked twice having a little trouble trying to keep up. "So… Seeing that you are in your Rookie form, I take it that you are the latter?"

Candlemon scowled before looking to the side. "Yeah, which is why I need you, Ruby."

"Huh?" Ruby asked.

"With you and that Digivice, you hold the key to my digivolution." Candlemon said looking back at Ruby with a determined glare.

"Digivice?" Ruby asked before holding out her watch. "You mean this?"

"Yeah, don't ask how but that is how Digimon with human partners digivolve back home." Candlemon explained.

Ruby paused for a moment. "Um, I have to ask. All of this seems to favour you. What about me?"

Candlemon grinned when it heard this. "I am glad you asked."

With that, it hopped over to Ruby and wrapped its hand around her should while dramatically holding out its other hand.

"Just think about it. A whole new world. Completely full of places that you had never seen before. Meeting new people from not just all over this world but the digital world as well. Seeing all types of new Digimon and their digivolutions! It is an adventure, Ruby! Come with me and we could explore the world together!"

Ruby paused for a moment. "So it is like one of those… MMOs I kept hearing about?"

"Yes and no. Based on the large amount of humans coming into this world, this IS just like an MMO or whatever it's called." Candlemon smirked. "But here is the thing. They all say that no MMO could ever top the experience they had in the Digital World! So what do you say?"

Ruby sat in her place still trying to piece together what was currently happening. Even though she still had a lot of questions that needed to be asked, she believed she had gotten all of the information she needed.

"No."

Candlemon's smirk immediately vanished by Ruby's short yet firm reply. "W-What?"

"It is just like I said." Ruby said simply. "I refuse."

"W-What?" Candlemon asked not believing its non-existent ears. "But why?"

"It sounds like too much work." Ruby said. "I don't want to go."

Candlemon's jaw dropped when it had heard this. "But… But… There are so many places and people to go see."

"Meh. That's all right. I am perfectly happy with the location and people I currently know now." Ruby explained.

Candlemon shook its head hoping that this was some kind of nightmare. It came all this way from the Digital World just for this?

"But… I can't digivolve without you." It said with its voice turned into a pathetic plea.

"Couldn't you find another partner?" Ruby asked casually.

"Another…" Candlemon started before getting annoyed. "No! That Digivice is proof that we are partners, for better or for worse!"

"Then I am sorry. I can't help you. You may never digivolve." Ruby sighed.

Candlemon stood in its place looking hurt by Ruby's lazy and unwilling attitude. However, it then started to growl curling its strange hands into fists with the flame on its wick burning brighter than before. It was not going down without a fight.

"I can't believe you! You are literally going to crush MY dream just so YOU could sit on your comfy little seat!" Candlemon snapped pointing an accusing finger.

Ruby shook her head. "Please don't go there. I am sorry that I can't help you digivolve but really you make it sound like I am entitled to do so. I literally just met you in less than five minutes ago."

"Because the blessing of Omnimon said that it is destiny!" Candlemon retorted.

Ruby blinked twice. "Omnimon?"

"Never mind! I came here all this way just go I could digivolve to the next level!" Candlemon snapped.

Ruby paused for a moment. She then gave a small smile.

"Candlemon, was it? Thank you." She said.

The Digimon seemed taken back by this. "Um, for what?"

"For destroying all of my sympathy for you." Ruby said with a smirk. "Now it makes rejecting you a lot more easier."

Candlemon's eyes widened at this. "W-What?"

"You just flat out admitted that you are only here to digivolve or whatever you Digimon do, right?" Ruby asked. "That means you don't give a crap about me as long as you get your way. You call me out about ruining your dream but in reality that is mostly what you care about."

Candlemon's jaw dropped not believing that Ruby had spoken so bluntly to her like that. It then growled gritted its jigsaw mouth together making a weird grinding noise.

"How dare you!? Do you know how long I had been waiting for a chance like this?" Candlemon snapped.

"I noticed that you are doing nothing to claim that what I am saying was wrong." Ruby countered.

Candlemon growled. "You are going to make me melt!"

"Then go outside because I am not spending my night cleaning up weird monster candle wax off of the floor." Ruby shot back.

Candlemon shook in its place looking like it was about to attack Ruby in a blind rage over what she had said to it.

Suddenly, it hanged its head looking at the ground in defeat.

"All right. You win." Candlemon sighed.

Ruby was taken back by this. "W-What?"

"You got me. I only wanted you to go to the Digital World just so I could digivolve." Candlemon said sadly. "I-I'm sorry. I wasn't really thinking about your own feelings."

Ruby paused before letting out a deep sigh. "And I am sorry that I can't help you. It is just… Not my kind of thing."

"I guess…" Candlemon said returning the sigh. "Can I at least go home?"

This confused Ruby. "Um, what is stopping you?"

"Your Digivice is the only way to transport back and forth between the human world and the Digital World." Candlemon explained. "Without it, I am pretty much stuck here forever."

Ruby paused before getting up. "All right. I will send you back. How do I open the portal?"

"Well, you just have to point your Digivice in front of the computer screen which I just came out of and all I have to do is hop back in to go back home." Candlemon instructed.

"Okay, got it." Ruby said walking over to the computer. Candlemon slowly followed after her. Ruby pointed her Digivice in front of the computer. Just like the Digimon said, the computer screen started to glow a bright white just like it did earlier when Candlemon first arrived.

"Well, this is my stop." Candlemon sighed.

"Yeah…" Ruby said before looking at Candlemon with a sympathetic look on her face. "Listen, no hard feelings, right?"

"No, it's all right." The Digimon sighed. "I should have thought about your own feelings before going here. I shouldn't force you to go through emotional blackmail."

Ruby nodded her head happy that her words had gotten through Candlemon's head.

"So that is why…"

Ruby raised an eyebrow when she saw a smirk come across Candlemon's face.

"…I am doing so with brute force!"

With that, it pounced at Ruby latching onto her chest. The brunette yelped before falling backwards towards the glowing computer screen. This resulted in the light to shine even brighter engulfing the two of them. In the span of a second, both of them vanished into the light as it faded leaving the house by itself. It was as if neither of them were ever there.

/-/-/-/-/-/

"AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!"

Ruby screamed as she found herself falling into straight into a white abyss. She frantically waved her hands in a desperate attempt to slow down her descent. Thin, black blurs zoomed past her as she was about to fall to her eventual death.

"Oh, calm down!"

Ruby turned her head and actually stopped screaming to see Candlemon casually crossing its arms with a smug smirk on its face.

"We have just been transported to the Digital World." Candlemon explained calmly.

Ruby immediately got angry remembering what happened. "You! You tackled me here!"

Candlemon rolled its eyes. "Well, duh! You pretty much made yourself clear that you wouldn't come here willingly so I had no choice but to tackle you here!"

"I can't believe you!" Ruby said furiously. "You really do don't give a crap about me!"

"Well, you felt the same way about so we are even!" Candlemon smirked. "Oh, before I forget!"

With that, it charged towards Ruby once again. The farm girl yelped before holding her hands in front of her face in an attempt to protect herself. However, this was what Candlemon wanted as it grabbed Ruby's Digivice out of her grasp.

"H-Hey!" Ruby exclaimed.

"No Digivice, no return ticket home!" Candlemon smirked floating off ahead. "See ya!"

"Hey!" Ruby snapped.

It was then she remembered where she was as she noticed that they were heading towards a bright light. Before she could even scream, they were both engulfed in it.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Ruby screamed as she found herself being thrown onto her stomach so hard that her glasses fell in front of her. She groaned before looking up with her vision a bit dazed. After shaking her head, she took her glasses before putting it back on her face wondering what just happened.

Looking around, she found herself inside of a long, large corridor of some sort. She also noticed that there was something huge behind her. Turning around, she saw a big round that gate looked like the ones in those sci-fi movies Jasper sometimes watched. She didn't even to think hard to realize that was the way home.

It was then her eyes widened in realization before turning around to see Candlemon standing to the side while throwing the Digivice to itself all while smugly smirking.

"Welcome, partner!" Candlemon said striking a nerve on Ruby.

"I am NOT your partner!" Ruby roared getting up to her feet and running after Candlemon. The Digimon laughed before turning around and hopping off towards the end of the corridor with the human giving chase. Ruby just wanted her Digivice back go she could go back home so she couldn't afford to lose the Digimon.

However when she had finally reached the end of the corridor and exited it. She skidded to a halt with her eyes bugging out when she saw where she was. She was now in the middle of a large city that was being inhabited with a lot of people.

But that wasn't what caught her attention. What DID was the fact that most of the people were not humans at all. In fact, some were actually bizarre-looking creatures like reptiles, bugs and plants. She even saw a few humanoids but she could tell that they were far from actually being human.

At the bottom of the stairs leading up to the corridor was a large line of small creatures staring at her looking like they were all waiting for something as they were inside of a rope barrier. Ruby stared in disbelief. Sure, she knew that Candlemon may have been telling the truth but still this was overwhelming.

"So… This is the Digital World…" Ruby muttered.

However, she shook her head remembering why she was here. Looking around, she scanned around for Candlemon hoping to get her Digivice. Soon, she spotted it standing inside of the line. Narrowing her eyes, she darted over to it.

"All right, buddy, joke's over! Give back my Digivice!" Ruby demanded.

It was then Candlemon stared up at her with confused eyes. It was then Ruby's eyes widened as she was struck with a strange sensation overcoming her and telling her something.

This candle wasn't the same one who pushed her into the Digital World.

"Um, sorry…" Ruby apologized. "You… You looked similar to a certain someone…"

The candle merely shrugged. "Eh, it's all right. We are used to it by now."

A few other Digimon in the line nodded their heads confirming the candle's response. Ruby looked around in shock. Some of the creatures in the line looked the same right down to every last detail. The farm girl wondering what was going on.

"Yoo-hoo!"

Ruby was immediately taken out of her train of thought when she turned around. She then saw Candlemon standing a good distance away tauntingly waving the Digivice in its hand. Ruby growled before running off after the Digimon who laughed before hopping off.

"Get back here!" Ruby said angrily.

"Make me!" Candlemon taunted.

Everyone watched as the mismatched duo ran off with blinking eyes on their faces. Two Digimon in particular who looked rather large merely stared on.

"Well, those two should have some… Interesting times." One of them said.

"And here I thought that other pair won the award for the Freaky Duo of the Day." The other one muttered.

As much as Ruby was stunned this was walking down the same streets as literal monsters, she was too busy on getting her Digivice back away from Candlemon was her main priority because it was literally the only key she had to do take her back to her home. She couldn't afford to get distracted for a second or else Candlemon may get away.

Meanwhile, the Digimon continued to hop ahead of Ruby so it could keep her Digivice away from her for as long as possible. However, The Digimon knew that it couldn't just do this forever. It had to find a way to convince Ruby to stay here and adventure with it or else it would never be able to digivolve. But how? It had to think of something.

It was so wrapped up in its train of thought that it didn't notice a Digimon holding out its foot. It wasn't until Candlemon tripped over it that it saw it. It yelped as it fell straight on its face with the Digivice flying up. The Digimon that had tripped the candle quickly grabbed it out of the air.

Ruby slowly stopped herself when she saw what had happened while Candlemon groaned holding itself on its hands before immediately growling at the person who tripped her. Said guilty party was a short yellow dinosaur with green eyes and a cocky smirk on its face.

"Resorting to thievery, Candlemon?" The dinosaur said flatly. "I never knew you would get so desperate."

The candle snarled. "Butt out, Agumon! That digivice belongs to MY partner!"

"Oh, if that is the case, then why is this young lady chasing after you?" The dinosaur challenged.

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!" Candlemon retorted pointing to the digivice in Agumon's hand. "Didn't that appear when you shook my hand?"

"Yeah but I had NEVER agreed to be your partner!" Ruby snapped. "You literally pushed me here!"

Agumon's eyes bugged out at this. "What?"

"Y-Yeah, but you refused to come here. I HAD to do so." Candlemon insisted.

"Oh gee, I feel so much better." Ruby said rolling her eyes.

Agumon glared at the candle. "I don't believe you, Candlemon. Forcing this poor lady here is one thing but doing so with the world in its current state."

Candlemon visibly winced as Ruby looked at Agumon with a confused look on her face.

"What current state?" Ruby asked not liking where this was going.

Agumon looked up at Ruby with a sympathetic look on its face. "Miss, do you wish to stay here any longer?"

"What? No!" Ruby answered.

Agumon nodded its head before throwing the Digivice at Ruby. Candlemon watched in horror as Ruby despite being taken back, quickly caught it.

"Then, that is not your problem. In fact, your problem should be going back to the portal and back home as soon as possible." Agumon warned.

Ruby paused with blinking eyes looking at Agumon for a moment wondering what it meant by the current state of the world. Shen then smiled and nodded.

"Agumon, was it?" She asked. Agumon nodded his head. "Thank you, you rule."

Her face immediately grimaced when she glared over at Candlemon.

"Candlemon, you suck."

"What!?" The candle roared with its anger flaring up as Agumon chuckled at its expense.

"You heard me! If going on an adventure means I have to be stuck with a jerk like you, then I never want to have an adventure! Not here, not back home, not EVER!" Ruby snapped.

Candlemon looked absolutely thunderstruck by her harsh words. Ruby saw this and had nothing but empathy for it as she looked around the area she was in for a moment.

"Um, sorry, Agumon but could you direct me back to the portal?" Ruby asked. "This annoying chase got me lost."

"Sure, Miss. I will be happy to oblige." The dinosaur smiled walking off. "Come on."

Ruby nodded her head before walking off not even giving Candlemon a second glance. However, the candle Digimon was not giving up without a fight before she hopped over to Ruby and latched onto her leg from the behind.

"H-Hey!" Ruby exclaimed.

"P-P-Please stay!" Candlemon begged. "I am desperate!"

"Oh really?" Agumon said with an exasperated glare. "I couldn't tell."

"Shut up!" Candlemon roared before looking up at Ruby. "Look, I am sorry, okay? I just want to digivolve!"

"Well, tough cookies! No means no!" Ruby said walking off while comically dragging Candlemon with her. "There was no way I was going to change my mind before you pushed me here, why do you think I would change my mind now!"

"But… But… Omnimon said that we are partners…" Candlemon begged.

"Well, whoever Omnimon is, he is wrong." Ruby spat.

"Aw, come on! You are not even seeing MY side of the story!" Candlemon whined.

"Why not? You didn't bother to see MY side." Ruby pointed out.

Agumon walked on looking back as Ruby followed it while Candlemon was clinging to her leg in desperately trying to get Ruby to reconsider but the brunette was having none of that. Agumon shook its head in hopelessness before looking on ahead.

It didn't take them that long to return back to where the portal was. Ruby quickly saw that it was inside some kind of temple which seemed out-of-place in a large city.

However, they quickly noticed that there were a bunch of people gathering around the area for some reason. It was then Ruby's eyes widened when she finally noticed the two large Digimon who had been there the entire time.

The first one looked like he was completely covered in a suit of white knight's armour along with a red cape while wielding a joust and a giant shield. The second one looked like some kind of biker completely clad in black leather along with a strange helmet that shown a third eye.

"That's strange." Agumon noted. "What is going on?"

Ruby looked down at Agumon in confusion. "Why? What's wrong?"

"The area near the portal shouldn't be this crowded. At all." The dinosaur pointed out.

"Everyone, please, calm down!" The knight begged.

"Calm down! How could we all calm down?" A young man exclaimed.

"Yeah, what is going on?" A young woman agreed. A few others joined in.

"People, people, please, I don't know how it happened but I am afraid that there is no other way to say this." The knight frowned behind its helmet.

The next words that came out of its mouth made Ruby's pupils shrink down to the size of peas.

"The portal connecting the human world and the Digital World is broken."


	2. Welcome To The Digital World

"The portal connecting the human world and the Digital World is broken."

Ruby stood in absolute horror as those words echoed through her mind. The pathway that she needed to enter to go home wasn't working for some reason. She was now stranded in this strange world that she only knew existed a few minutes ago.

She wasn't the only one distraught. Everyone else stared in dismay at the giant Digimon standing in front of them as they immediately started to shout out frantically all at once.

"What!?"

"You mean we are stuck here!"

"But my parents will be home in an hour!"

"Forget your parents being home in an hour! What if we are stuck here for days!?"

"What if we will NEVER go home!?"

"I want my mommy!"

Almost every human erupted with negative comments about how they may never return to their homes and loved ones. Ruby on the other hand, looked down at her feet still stunned at what had happened. In the span of a few minutes, she had forced into another world and there was a chance that she was stuck here for a while.

Immediately, she scowled before glaring down at Candlemon who was staring at the crowd of people breaking into a panic. She had half a mind to smack it for what it had done to her resulting in this happening. She was about to yell at it until something stopped her.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Everyone jumped at the series of noises before falling quiet looking at the two large Digimon. They then saw that the biker-like Digimon was holding a pistol in each of its hand with a blank look on its face. The knight Digimon narrowed its eyes as the crowd stared at them.

It was then the biker's eyes widened in shock. "Oh wait! Did I just ruin your "running like Akatorimon with their heads chopped off" routine? Oh, I am sorry!"

A few people narrowed their eyes not liking its attitude as the biker casually put away his pistols.

The knight shook its head in hopelessness before looking at the crowd. "Please excuse him. But otherwise he is more or less right. I know this is overwhelming but you have to keep calm."

"Keep calm? How?" A young man asked.

"Yeah, how come the portal is closed in the first place?" Another youth added.

The knight let out a small sigh. "I do not know the full reason. Though we have a strong idea on what happened."

"Oh yeah. What is it?" A young man asked putting his hands on his hips.

The knight paused as if wondering how he should say what he thought was the true answer. Finally, he spoke.

"We think it was related to the recent natural disasters." The knight nodded.

Everyone looked shocked upon hearing this.

"Yes, they had been a lot of strange events that had been going around the Digital World." The knight frowned. "Sleeping volcanoes had started erupting all of a sudden, earthquakes breaking apart the ground, tornadoes appearing out of nowhere."

The crowd stared not believing the series of events that was happening to them.

"What!?"

"You mean that we stuck here but we have a chance of getting killed by a tornado!?"

"How do we know that this city won't get hit next?"

"Everyone, calm down!" The biker shouted before lowering his voice "Look, I am not going to say that we have clear answers but I WILL say this. Each and every one of you has a Digimon partner!"

"That's right! If push comes to shove, I am sure you Digimon would protect and look after your human partners!" The knight agreed nodding its head.

"But my partner had only learned to Digivolve to Champion!" A female youth yelled. "How is he going to protect me from an earthquake!?"

The knight winced behind its helmet at this as a few people agreed with the lass. However, it put its fist to its mouth and coughed.

"So don't go alone. Go in a group." The knight instructed. "There is safety in numbers."

"Oh and where are we going to live?" A young man challenged.

"We will get to that." The knight reassured. "We shall talk to Babamon and ask if she could send out any rooms for free."

"That is the thought doesn't make her drop dead…" The biker muttered.

"In the meantime, please try to calm yourself down. I know it is hard but panicking isn't going to change anything." The knight pleaded.

The crowd looked at each other still looking unsure about the whole thing. Meanwhile, Ruby was then paused for a moment still processing what was happening in her mind. She then scowled before looking down at Candlemon.

"And when were you going to tell me about said disasters?" Ruby challenged.

Candlemon looked down poking its fingers together. "Um, I got so excited when I found out that you were my partner that I kinda got forgot about that."

Ruby put her hands on her hips not looking amused. "Oh great. Is there anything ELSE that you had neglected to tell me?"

Candlemon paused before looking up sheepishly. "Um, I am female?"

Ruby paused for a moment at Candlemon's sudden gender reveal. However, there were rather greater things to worry about so she merely put her hands on her forehead in frustration.

"This is a freaking nightmare…" Ruby groaned.

"I say!" Agumon said with a scowl. "A bunch of defenseless humans are stuck in this world when it is under attack by natural disasters…"

"Now what?" Ruby asked.

"We have no choice. We have to stay at the Baba Inn." Candlemon lamented.

Ruby glared down at Candlemon. "Excuse me, what do you mean WE?"

"Well, I AM your partner after all and…" The candle started.

"Now stay where you are!" Ruby said quickly cutting her off. "I may be stuck in the Digital World until further notice but I am NOT and will NEVER be your partner!"

"Well, tough luck, toots! That Digivice is proof of our partnership!" Candlemon snapped.

Ruby pointed to her Digivice not looking pleased. "This thing… The only reason I haven't ditched this thing is because it is literally the only way I could go home when the portal gets fixed."

"Hey, come on! We are not even giving the Digital World a chance!" Candlemon scolded.

"After what is currently happening around now, what makes you think that I would do ANYTHING with it!?" Ruby snapped. "And another thing…"

"ENOUGH!"

Ruby, Candlemon and Agumon's eyes bugged out before looking in the direction of the shout to see a set of four figures standing a few feet away from them. Two were teenaged humans while the last two were a couple of small Digimon.

The first human was a petite Asian girl who looked like she was in her mid-teens. She had short black hair that had on a pink Alice Brand with flower motifs on it. She also wore a red gym jacket, a lime-green shirt, a yellow scarf and a pink frilly skirt with black shorts underneath. Along with her white shock and her sneakers, her eyes were an innocent blue.

The second human was a dark-skinned scrawny boy who looked the same age as the Asian girl. His black hair looked like an absolutely pig-pen as he wiped his brown eyes trying to dry as much tears as he possibly could. His outfit was basic with a blue polo shirt with a vertical line on it along with tan pants and brown shoes.

Ruby was quick to notice that the two had Digivices on their wrist just like her. However, the Asian girl's own was light green while the dark-skinned boy was dark blue.

The first Digimon was some kind of green plant-like creature with red petals sticking out around its neck with a larger petal acting like a helmet. She also had some kind of purple flower for hands.

The second Digimon was a bizarre-looking quadruped tadpole-like creature with green skin and a white belly. Also, he had a large orange fin that made it look like some kind of weird Mohawk.

The Asian girl stepped forward putting her hands on her hips. "Look at you two! You are supposed to be partners and yet in the greatest time where you two should stick together, you are fighting!"

Ruby waved her hands in front of her face. "She is NOT my partner!"

"Yes, I am!" Candlemon retorted.

"No, you are not!" Ruby snapped back.

"Oh, then where is your partner then?" The Asian girl asked.

"Huh?" Ruby asked looking at the shorter girl in confusion.

"Yeah, obviously you have to have a Digimon partner somewhere." The Asian girl explained. She then pointed to her own Digivice. "You clearly have a Digivice."

Ruby paused before looking down. "Well, you see… I suppose I DID get it when I shook hands with her but…"

"Then she is your partner!" The Asian girl said.

"See?" Candlemon exclaimed with a smirk.

Ruby growled before glaring down at Candlemon before looking back at the Asian girl.

"Really, miss, I am not supposed to be here…" Ruby started.

She then stopped herself when she saw the dark-skinned boy was wearing his eyes as if trying to stop as many tears as he could.

"Um, are you okay?" Ruby asked concerned.

"N-no…" The young man said in a French accent. "I-I am not…"

"Aw, don't worry, Jafaru… It will be all right." The tadpole reassured stepping towards the young man.

However, the dark-skinned youth let out a pained yelp before stepping back as if he was absolutely terrified of the Digimon. The tadpole blinked twice in confusion as the Asian girl and the plant creature frowned at his behavior.

"A-Anyway, this is Jafaru and my name is Hanako." The Asian girl introduced. "And these are our Digimon partners."

"Hiya!" The tadpole said waving his front leg cheerfully

"A pleasure to meet you." The flower said bowing politely.

"Um, a pleasure to meet you too." Ruby said. "Um, aren't you two going to tell me your names?"

The flower gasped in realization. "Oh my goodness! I should have realized that this is your first time here! Please forgive us! I am a Floramon."

"And I am a Betamon!" The tadpole smiled.

"Wait, A Floramon and A Betamon. Are you saying that you are only known by your species?" Ruby asked raising an eyebrow looking around at the Digimon around her.

"Yes, I admit that it is confusing but I am sure that you would get accustomed to it." Floramon reassured.

Ruby paused not knowing how to react. "Um, right? Anyway, my name is Ruby."

"And I am Candlemon!" Candlemon introduced with a grin.

"I am Agumon…" Agumon said softly.

"So this is your time here?" Hanako asked. Ruby nodded her head. "I am sorry that your first experience of the Digital World ended like this."

"Yeah, well, it's not YOUR fault." Ruby said casting Candlemon a side glare who merely whistled innocently.

"This is Jafaru's first time here too." Hanako offered. The young man in question had slowly crying but still had a few tears running down his face.

"I just want to go home…" He whimpered.

"I know, Jafaru but unfortunately there is nothing we could do until they get the portal fixed." Hanako said putting her hand on his shoulder.

"In any case, Gallantmon and Beelzemon suggested that we should go together in a group." Floramon said.

"Who?" Ruby asked raising an eyebrow

"You know, the two guards of the portals." Floramon explained. "So Ruby, Candlemon, Agumon, do you wish to go with us?"

"Better than being alone I guess…" Ruby muttered with a shrug.

"I am right here, you know." Candlemon muttered underneath her breath.

"I-In any case, Agumon, what about you?" Hanako asked trying to defuse some tension.

The dinosaur shook his head. "No, you guys go on without me. I got my own place. Besides, I have to try to do something on my own."

Floramon raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and what you have to do?

"I don't know. But I am sure that we will meet again." Agumon reassured

"All right, so we will be seeing then" Hanako nodded.

Agumon returned the nod. "Farewell, Hanako, Ruby, Jafaru, Floramon and Betamon."

Candlemon growled as she watched Agumon walk off. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

Agumon looked back with a smirk. "No. At least no one important."

"Who are you calling unimportant!?" Candlemon roared with her flame burning brightly as Agumon walked out of sight.

"What do you think he has to do, anyway?" Floramon asked whispering to Candlemon

"I don't know. Whatever it is, it probably won't be that big now that portal is closed." The candle Digimon spat.

"Why? Does Agumon work on the portal?" Ruby asked.

"You could say that." Candlemon spat crossing her arms.

"I-In any case, do you think we should find some more people that are all alone?" Floramon suggested.

Candlemon narrowed her eyes at the retreating Agumon. However, she then sighed while hanging her head. "Sure, why not?"

Hanako nodded her head before looking around for people who seemed like they were on their own. It didn't take her that long to find someone.

Walking off to the side was a muscular young man with slightly tan skin. His sunshine blonde hair was dressed in a ponytail as purple-tainted shades covered his eyes. His attire was casual with a yellow sleeveless hooded jumper that was showing a bit of his chest along with green shorts and grey sneakers with white socks. Around his wrist was a yellow Digivice

Next to him was some kind of red-furred quadruped animal with hints of purple. It had the ears of a rabbit yet he had the tail of a peacock.

Hanako smiled before waving her hand. "Hey, big guy with the Elecmon!"

The two turned their heads to see the Asian girl waving them over. Despite confused, they made their way over to them.

"Are you talking to me?" The young man asked in an Australian accent.

"That's right! I noticed that you were all alone so I decided to ask you and your partner if you could join us." Hanako offered.

The young man paused for a moment before scanning the group for a moment. After a while, he had given his opinion.

"Oh I get it…" He said.

Hanako blinked twice. "You do?"

"You are scared." The young man said.

Everyone blinked twice looking stunned.

"Huh?" Ruby asked.

"You heard me, Sheila." The man said narrowing his eyes behind his shades. "You are scared after seeing about these natural disasters so you wanted a meat shield in case bad goes to worse!"

Everyone's eyes widened at this.

"No, wait! That is not what I…" Hanako started trying to defuse a misunderstanding.

"Okay, we will go with you."

The others paused in their place and looked to see the young man was actually grinning at them. He took off his shades showing his blue eyes as he rested them on his face.

"I can't say being a meat shield is a good reason to join but looking at you guys, I could strongly see how you desperately needed one." The young man grinned.

The others immediately got a bit insulted by this.

"What was that, muscle-for-brains!?" Candlemon said angrily. "You wanna say that to my face!?"

"Candlemon, please." Floramon begged holding the candle back.

The rabbit-like Digimon glared up at the young man.

"Ethan, don't be rude!" He said before looking at the others with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry about that, I am Elecmon and he is Ethan."

"Pleased to meet you." Floramon said.

As the others introduced themselves, Ruby promptly looked around at all of the humans that were around. Much to her shock, nearly all of them were either the same age as her or younger. Anyone who did seemed older than her were probably only by a couple of years.

"Um, how come there are no one looking like they are above the age of nineteen here?" She asked.

"Beats me, Ruby." Hanako shrugged. "Apparently only us youth could have a Digimon partner."

"Well, whatever reason why that is the case, isn't it dangerous for children under the age of thirteen to be here?" Ruby asked.

Elecmon merely stood up and shrugged his shoulders. "Apparently, the legends said that the very first humans were actually around the age of ten."

"Speaking of young ages, look at that child standing around there all by himself with his Digimon partner." Hanako said pointing in a direction.

Everyone turned and looked in the direction of the voice to see two figures that were indeed standing off to the side talking to each other. One of them was a Hispanic child who looked like he was merely ten years old. With his brown eyes and his matching hair that was covered by a tan hat, he wore a beige sleeveless button-up shirt along with grey shorts and sandals. His Digivice was light grey.

The Digimon he was with looked similar to Agumon. However, the main difference was he looked like a real-size statue of him made out of Lego blocks of the bright primary colours of red, yellow and blue.

Hanako wasted no time rushing over to the pair before anyone could say a single word.

"Excuse me?" She asked getting the two's attention.

"Yes." The child said with a blank look on his face while speaking in a Brazilian accent.

"We were just following Gallantmon's advice and forming a group." Hanako said. "I noticed that you haven't got into a group yet, have you?"

The child shook his head still keeping his expression. "No, we haven't."

"Um, if you want, you could join us." Hanako said a little creeped out.

The Lego Digimon's eyes lit up at this. "Really?"

"Really." Hanako said nodding her head brightly.

The Digimon then started to literally bounce circles around the child clearly excited.

"Oh, wow, Paolo! We are going to be in a group! Isn't this great? We are going to play games and tell stories and have fun!"

The child's half-open eyes followed his partner. "Do you even remember as to WHY we are forming a group?"

"So that doesn't mean we can't be friends with the people!" The Lego dinosaur said still not stopping his bouncing.

Paolo shook his head before looking up at Hanako. "Please excuse Toyagumon, he is always like that. Anyway, my name is Paolo and we will gladly accept your request. However, I should apologize on behalf of Toyagumon, his antics could get exasperating real fast."

The Asian girl shrank back. "Um, that's all right… Go with the others."

Paolo nodded his head as he walked over to the rest of the group who was casting him blank faces.

"Well, he's not creepy…" Ruby muttered.

"Shh!" Jafaru scolded piping up for the first time. "He may hear us!"

Meanwhile, Toyagumon sped past his partner and over to the ground.

"Hiya, my name is Toyagumon! Do you wanna be my friend?" Toyagumon introduced.

"Of course!" Betamon smiled.

"Yeah, we will be your friend, kid!" Elecmon grinned.

"Really? Yay!" Toyagumon smiled. "I am looking forward to being with you guys!"

"Same here." Floramon nodded. She then looked ahead to see Hanako scanning around as if trying to find any more people to bring into their group.

Nearly everyone had gone into a group of some kind. The other people who had seemed to be by themselves were Digimon. However, she did manage to spot a human along with a small Digimon leaning against a building.

He was a tall, well-built young man who looked quite intimidating with blood-red hair and a scar over one of his closed eyes. His attire was mostly dark with a black coat with matching pants and boots with a shirt that matched his hair. Even his Digivice's case was black.

He was with some kind of grey-furred creature that looked like a hybrid of a rabbit and a cat. He looked like someone that one shouldn't trust so easily.

Despite their unfriendly appearances, Hanako completely ignored it and ran over to them ready to invite the two in.

"Hello, boys!" Hanako said cheerfully.

The two people looked up with raised eyebrows.

"What?" The young man spat opening his purple eyes while speaking in a Scottish accent.

"I just wanted to know if you guys would want to join our group!" Hanako asked motioning over to her group. "We were just wondering if you wanted to join us."

"We?" Ruby asked looking at Ethan who merely shrugged.

"So what do you say?" Hanako asked.

The young man paused for a moment while crossing his arms.

"No."

Hanako shrank back at this. "Oh, I am sorry. You are already in a group?"

"No." The young man responded again.

Hanako blinked twice. "But if that is the case, then why are you…"

The grey rabbit-like Digimon had lost most of its patience and stepped forward.

"Listen, lady, get a hint! We aren't in a group but we don't NEED to be in one!" He snapped.

Hanako stepped back surprised. "W-What? How come?"

The Digimon then gave a toothy smirk. "Easy. It is because we are not afraid any some silly old natural disasters! We could face anything on our own! That is how the boss feels, right?"

The young man paused for a moment. "Actually, I just don't like being with people, that's all."

The Digimon's ears drooped a bit. "Oh, that too."

Hanako shook her head. "Oh, come now! Don't be like that! The point of going to the Digital World is to experience new things. And that includes making new friends."

"Not interested." The Scottish lad said.

"Aw, come on!" Hanako said going over to grab him by the wrist to drag him over.

However, it was then he swatted the hand away. Hanako winced before she held her limb as she stared up at the young man glaring straight into her eyes.

"I… Said…" He said through gritted teeth. "Not… Interested…"

"Yeah, all you are doing is wasting our time so beat it, toots!" The grey-furred Digimon snapped pointing his finger at her.

The others saw this and was not happy with the two's personalities.

"Hey, what is your deal? She is just trying to be nice!" Elecmon shouted cupping his hands to his mouth.

"Well, we don't need her niceness!" The grey-furred Digimon snapped. "All we need are each other!"

"...Well, it depends…" The Scottish youth said crossing his arms.

The grey-furred Digimon's smirk vanished as he looked up at his partner. "Well, it depends on what, boss?"

The Scottish youth then glared down at his Digimon before asking a question that pierced through him like an arrow.

"When are you going to Digivolve, Gazimon?"

The rabbit-like Digimon's eyes bugged out when he heard this. "Um, well… About that… I don't know…"

"Oh, then why do I need you if you can't Digivolve to watch my back?" The Scottish youth challenged.

Gazimon winced before looking down. "Um, well, don't worry, I am sure that I would be digivolving soon."

"Well, you better." The Scottish young man spat.

"But if your Digimon can't Digivolve, that is more reason for you to join us!" Hanako insisted.

Gazimon growled before glaring at the Asian girl. "We don't need you! We could go on our own!"

"Hmph. This conversation is pointless." The Scottish lad scoffed.

"I say it is! Listen, lady! But we are perfectly fine on our own!" Gazimon scolded. "The boss, Angus and I are a team! We got each other's back and…"

"Um, Mr. Gazimon?" Betamon asked.

"What?" The rabbit-like creature snapped.

"I think your partner had accidentally left you behind."

Gazimon's eyes bugged out before he looked around frantically. Soon, he found that his "boss" was indeed casually walking off with his hands in his pockets.

"H-Hey!" Gazimon called out before running off after him. "Boss! Wait up!"

Elecmon glared at the retreating rabbit with narrowed eyes. "Humph. Jerks."

"Heard that!" Candlemon nodded. "So glad that they are not in OUR group!"

Hanako shook her head. "Well, that is their loss, I am afraid."

"Well, what now?" Ruby asked. "We got a group and I don't see any more humans on their own."

Hanako looked back at the taller girl. "Well, we have a bit of time. So how about we show you and Jafaru around for the day?"

Ruby blinked twice in confusion. "Day? It is late in the eve…"

It was then she looked up at the sky stopping her in her sentence. The sky was actually a clear blue with the sun shining brightly. She stared in disbelief undoubtedly remembering that it was night when she and Candlemon entered the Digital World.

Hanako noticed this and giggled. "Oh right. You are not from Japan, are you?"

Ruby looked at Hanako in confusion. "Where did THAT come from?"

"Well for some reason, the time in the Digital World is set the same as the time in Japan." Hanako explained.

"The time is Japan. So it is NOT evening now?" Ruby asked.

"No." Hanako said before checking her watch. "In fact, it is 8:20 a.m."

Ruby immediately scoffed at this. "I don't believe this. All of this and now I can't even get a goodnight's sleep right away."

Elecmon looked at the farm girl in disbelief. "THAT is what you are concerned with?"

"In any case, how about we'll give you two the grand tour of this place?" Hanako asked.

"Can we go to the nearby clothing shop?" Candlemon asked causing everyone to look at him with raised eyebrows.

"Whoa, you seemed like one of the last people I expect to willingly go there." Floramon asked.

"That's because I am. I just wanted to get something. That's all." Candlemon shrugged.

"Well, if you say so." Hanako shrugged. "Lead the way."

Candlemon then hopped forward while humming a jovial tune to herself. The others quickly followed her wondering what was going on. Ruby narrowed her eyes while putting on her Digivice not liking that the candle had in mind in the slightest.

Soon, everyone had followed Candlemon through the building. Ruby looked around surprised that despite most of the Digimon he saw doesn't wear clothes, it didn't looked much different from any other clothing shop that she had seen back at home.

In fact, the only major difference was the clerk under the counter. It was some kind of large yellow fox-like Digimon with a large white mane with its face covered with a white mask and actually had a sharp-looking blade for a tail. Jafaru yelped before retreating behind Ethan.

"Oh, customers! Both human AND Digimon!" The fox brightened up before literally jumping off the counter easily. "And what business do you people have with entering my lovely shop?"

"Don't get your hopes up, Reppamon. I am just here to finally buy what I may have needed." Candlemon said waving her hands.

"Oh, it is just you, THAT Candlemon…" Reppamon said with the enthusiasm in his voice slowly dying. "I take it that you…"

Suddenly, he froze as if just realizing something.

"Wait, you said FINALLY, Candlemon, are you saying that you had actually at long last…" Reppamon asked.

Candlemon happily nodded before pointed up to Ruby. "That's right, I had finally gotten myself my own partner!"

"What?" Ruby asked. It was then Reppamon had sprinted over to her startling the farm girl.

"Why, hello there, young miss!" Reppamon said excitedly. "I must say your clothes are so charmingly rustic!"

"Um, thank you?" Ruby asked shifting her eyes from left to right.

"However, you now have a Digimon partner and if you are going to explore this world, you are going to need a more… bolder wardrobe." Reppamon asked.

"Hey, don't even try that! You know I only came out for one thing!" Candlemon scolded.

"Oh, nonsense! Surely that this young lady would like something a little more than that!" Reppamon said. He then pointed his tail at some jackets. "Now the Digital World has some very cold places so I strongly recommend taking one of those lovely jackets! I think some of these outfits would be just smashing on you!"

Ethan walked over to a jacket with flame motifs on it. "Hey, this is pretty slick!"

"Of course even fire could be styled!" Reppamon smirked.

"I admit those jackets are pretty sweet but…" Candlemon started but she was quickly cut off.

"Or perhaps you would want a lovely skirt?" Reppamon said walking over to a series of dresses. "These are really some of my best works yet!"

Hanako and Floramon's eyes lit up by this.

"Wow, they ARE lovely!" Hanako agreed.

"The one with the roses!" Floramon added.

"I should hope so!" Reppamon grinned. "It is my favourite dress here!"

"What good is that thing going on an adventure?" Candlemon challenged. "Besides, all I need is the…"

"Hey, what is this nifty thing?" Elecmon asked pointing over to a gakuran.

"Oh, that is a gakuran! Some humans from… Japan, they say gave me some great advice on it!" Reppamon said.

"Ooh, ooh, what is THIS?" Toyagumon asked pointing to a kilt.

"That is a kilt! Actually it is a non-gender specific skirt or something like that." Reppamon mused. "I don't think it. What male would pass up wearing one of my dresses?"

Ethan paused. "A normal one?"

"Ethan!" Elecmon scolded.

"I don't WANT a gender-specific or a NON gender-specific skirt!" Candlemon snapped with her non-existent eyebrow twitching.

"Oh, Ruby, you HAVE to try THIS on?" Hanako asked holding part of a dress.

"Like hell, she is!" Ethan scolded before holding a jacket. "She is trying on THIS!"

"How about this one?" Toyagumon suggested pointing to a suit.

"I want this one!" Betamon said pointing to a pair of brightly-striped pants.

Soon, the only people that weren't suggesting clothes were Ruby, Candlemon, Jafaru and Paolo. Candlemon growled getting annoyed with being ignored. Ruby shook her head.

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone jumped before turning their heads towards the direction of the voice. Candlemon was looking furiously at everybody.

"Look, all I want is ONE particular item and you are not making it any easier for it, Reppamon!" Candlemon scolded before looking at the others. "And you are not helping by encouraging him!"

Reppamon merely scoffed. "Humph. It is not their fault that they have expensive taste in clothes!"

"Buddy, don't even get me STARTED on expensive!" Candlemon growled.

"Humph. Well, I am afraid that even though that she is YOUR partner, that still doesn't mean Miss Ruby thinks the same way as you." Reppamon scolded. "Isn't that right, Miss Ruby?"

However, all the quadruped Digimon got was silence.

"Miss Ruby?" Reppamon asked as everyone looked around. Ruby wasn't inside of the clothing store any more.

Ruby had actually ran out of the building as fast as she could. After darting into a nearby alleyway, she leaned against the wall panting heavily placing her hand on her chest.

"I am so glad… That I avoided… Being forced to… Choose clothing." Ruby said between pants.

She then let out a deep sigh. This was exactly why she didn't want to hang out with friends in town with the human world. Shaking her head, she looked around.

She then jumped when she found out that she was not alone.

Standing in the alleyway along with her was a young woman leaning against the wall. She had pale skin with raven hair and brown. She wore a large pale blue hooded coat that went all of the way to her tights where she wore black pants and brown boots underneath. The woman stared at Ruby with a blank look on her face.

"Um, hello?" Ruby asked feeling a bit creeped out by the woman's blank expression.

Said woman didn't reply. She merely slowly walked over to Ruby. The brunette girl winced before stepping back a couple of steps not liking where this was going. Soon, the dark-haired woman stopped in her tracks staring into Ruby's scared eyes.

She then slowly held out her hand in form of a handshake. Ruby shrank back surprised by this. She looked up and down between the strange woman's face and hand. After what seemed like an eternity, she slowly reached out her hand and accepted the handshake.

It was then a bright light engulfs their hands. Ruby shrieked before retreating her hand making the light fade instantly. The dark-haired woman then turned around and ran off into the darkness.

"H-Hey!" Ruby called out. But it was too late as she had already gone out of sight. Ruby blinked twice before holding down at her hand.

"I should REALLY stop accepting handshakes from random strangers." She said to herself.

"Ruby?"

The farm girl's eyes widened before turning around to see Agumon staring at her.

"Oh, Agumon, I thought you had gone off to do something." Ruby said.

"Yeah but now I am done and decided to see how you are holding up seeing that this is your first time here and all." Agumon said. "Say, where is Candlemon and the others?"

Ruby looked down. "We had gone into a clothing store and… Most of them got clothes-crazy wanting to try on different outfits so I freaked out and ran straight out.

"Uh-huh. Well, even without all of the natural disasters that had been happening around the city, it is still dangerous for a human to go into dark alleyways by themselves." Agumon warned.

Ruby looked behind her. "Yeah, I could see why…"

Agumon raised a non-existent eyebrow wondering what Ruby meant and was about to ask.

"Ruby? Ruby, where are you?"

The brunette girl and Agumon's eyes widened before turning their heads when they heard Candlemon calling out to them.

"Ruby, please answer us!" Hanako's voice called out.

The bespectacled girl sighed before walking forward. "I am right her…"

That was when Agumon zoomed at her grabbing her hand and pulling the surprised girl further into the alley.

"H-Hey! What are you doing!?" Ruby demanded.

"Sorry! Sorry! But I really need to talk to you in private!" Agumon pleaded.

"A-About what?" Ruby asked.

"Just go with it!" Agumon yelled.

The small dinosaur had dragged Ruby away from Candlemon and the others with the farm girl struggling to keep up. Soon after a minute of running, Agumon had finally stopped inside of an old, abandoned vacant lot. Ruby and Agumon both went on their knees panting heavily.

Soon, Ruby stood up straight. "All right. We lost them for now. So what is so important that you wanted to speak with me alone?"

Agumon paused before looking down with a sigh. "I was thinking… About how much hassle Candlemon may give you."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Hassle?"

Agumon nodded his head. "I mean think about it. Candlemon is a Digimon that DOESN'T take no for an answer. You of all people should know that after she literally shoved you here."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Ruby said remembering the incident with disgust.

"Candlemon will stop at nothing to drag you halfway across the Digital World just so she could Digivolve all the way to Mega." Agumon said shaking his head.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "But I take it you have something in mind."

Agumon looked up and nodded his head. "Indeed. Candlemon wants to Digivolve but even someone as stubborn as her has to stop when she realizes that doing so is impossible."

"What are you getting at?" Ruby asked.

Agumon merely pointed to Ruby's Digivice. "I think you had already known this but that Digivice is the key to her digivolution. Without it, she would never make it to the Champion level…"

Ruby's eyes widened at this. "Are you suggesting that I TRASH this thing? I can't do that! It is my only one-way ticket home when…"

"…When the portal gets fixed. I do, I do." Agumon said. "Hey, I have a suggestion."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Agumon held out his hand. "Give your Digivice to ME. I'll hold onto it until the portal reopens and then I would give it to you."

"R-Really? You would do that?" Ruby asked.

"Of course! Unlike some Digimon, I am well-aware of the dangers that are going around the Digital World even WITHOUT the natural disasters going around." Agumon said. "I merely wanted to look out for your safety."

Ruby paused for a moment. Agumon had been the first if not the only person so far who had seen her side of the story and how upset she was. She felt like Agumon was a trustworthy person seeing that he had already given her Digivice back to her when Candlemon stole it. So what was the problem?

Soon, Ruby started to undo the strap that attached her Digivice to her wrist. She then took it off before slowly handing the Digivice over to Agumon. The yellow-skinned Digimon gave a small smile before moving to accept the Digivice.

"Don't even think about it, you idiot!"

Ruby and Agumon's eyes bugged out before turning their heads in the direction of the voice to see the Scottish guy and his Gazimon partner was earlier crossing their arms and glaring at the two.

"Hey, it is you from earlier!" Ruby gasped.

The young man gave a small growl. "What is the matter with you? Handing over your Digivice to a complete stranger just because you don't want to go on an adventure!"

Ruby put her hands on her hips. "Well, excuse me, bud! But I never wanted to be here!"

"That still doesn't give you the right to stupidly hand over your Digivice over to a seemingly nice guy!" The young man scolded.

Agumon stepped back a couple of steps appalled. "H-How dare you? I know that Ruby and I haven't had that much time together but…"

"Save it!" Gazimon smirked stepping forward. "You may act like Ruby's knight in shining armor but the truth is that said maiden is acting exactly the way YOU wanted her to act."

Agumon gasped with wide eyes as Ruby looked on in confusion.

"W-What are you talking about?" Ruby asked.

Gazimon pointed at Agumon. "Agumon may be trying to help you but he is going to do it for HIS own selfish desires!"

"Selfish desires? What is there to gain by protecting this poor woman?" Agumon demanded.

"Save it. I know that you only wanted one less unnatural Digivolution in the world." Gazimon sneered.

"Unnatural Digivolution?" Ruby asked.

"It is when Digimon could only Digivolve with the use of a human partner in contrary to Digimon who are able to do so without them." The young man explained.

"And do you know how I know that?" Gazimon challenged glaring daggers at Agumon. "It is because he constantly looks down on Digimon who can't Digivolve!"

Agumon then literally roared. "Liar!"

"No, it isn't!"

The four's eyes widened before turning to see Candlemon and the others entering the area with the Digimon glaring at Agumon. Candlemon had a small fancy bag in her hands.

"I knew that guy for a long time!" Candlemon snapped pointing a finger. "And every time we met, he always gloated about how us Digimon who need human partners are inferior!"

"Yeah, he once said to my face and how weak I was!" Elecmon agreed.

"He spent the majority of Hanako's first day trying to scare her off!" Floramon scolded.

"He is nothing more than a bigot!" Candlemon concluded. "He only cares about you is because you wanting to go back home is so they are less people here!"

Agumon paused for a moment looking back and forth between the nasty glares he was getting by the Digimon and some of their partners.

It was then something happened that caught everyone's attention. Agumon suddenly started to laugh.

"All right, you caught me." Agumon said with a smug smirk. "I hate Digimon who resorts to having to use humans to Digivolve. Digimon should be able to Digivolve on their own strength."

"So by trying to show people the dangers of the Digital World, you are merely shoving away the key to the unnatural Digimon's evolution back into the human world." Paolo said stepping forward.

"That's right! Either you learn to Digivolve on your own merits or you shouldn't get to Digivolve PERIOD." Agumon nodded.

"But that's not fair! It is not our fault we are born like this!" Toyagumon insisted.

"Nobody is blaming you. I am just trying to make you realize the delusion you guys have of strength when in short, you are weak!" Agumon taunted.

This angered the Digimon.

"So the gentlemanly mask had come off." Floramon said narrowing her eyes.

"Indeed, it did." Agumon said. "But question… What good would this accomplish?"

Everyone paused in confusion.

"Sure, I admit it. I am only doing this for my own selfish motives but does that change anything?" Agumon challenged. "Does that change the fact that this world is far too dangerous for humans? Does that change the fact that there are a lot of natural disasters going around?"

Agumon then turned back to Ruby.

"Ruby, I genuinely meant by what I said by wanting to keep your Digivice safe for you and will return it immediately when the portal reopens." Agumon reassured.

"Hey! That is not for you to decide!" Candlemon snapped.

"Said the woman who literally used force to drag Ruby here." Agumon said before looking up at Ruby. "Ruby, just give me the Digivice and Candlemon wouldn't have an excuse to drag you on an adventure seeing that she will never digivolve."

The farm girl paused for a moment before looking down at the Digivice. The others looked in disbelief and horror at the fact that Ruby was actually thinking about going on with Agumon's plan.

"You're right. Even after finding out your true motives, that still doesn't excuse the fact that this place is dangerous with both giant monsters and natural disasters running around everywhere." Ruby said looking down.

Agumon smirked in success as Candlemon hanged her arms looking absolutely defeated. After waiting so long for a human partner, Ruby was literally just going to hand that chance away.

"However…"

Everyone looked up at Ruby.

"That doesn't mean I should trust a prick." Ruby said with a smirk.

Agumon stepped back looking absolutely stunned. "E-Excuse me?"

"Bullies suck and so do you. While our goals are more or less similar, I am not going to support your bigoted ideas." Ruby said turning around and walking off. "We are done here."

Some of the Digimon and humans immediately smiled at Ruby's cold rejection. Candlemon was naturally the most happy proud at what Ruby did.

Meanwhile, Agumon slumped his arms in defeat as his jaw dropped to the ground not believing that Ruby was just casually walking away from him. He then slowly narrowed his eyes as he started to breathe in and out heavily resulting in a bit of flames escaping his mouth. He wasn't going to accept defeat just like that.

"Stay where you are!" Agumon roared making everyone jump.

"What now?" Ruby asked annoyed.

"You are going to give me your Digivices!" Agumon snapped. "In fact, ALL of you are!"

Ethan let out a mirthless laugh. "In your dreams, small-fry!"

"Small-fry, eh?" Agumon asked with a twitching eyebrow.

Suddenly, he engulfed himself in a bright light startling everyone.

"W-W-What!? What is going on!? What is happening!?" Jafaru exclaimed.

"Agumon Digivolve to…" Agumon called out. Then, the light had started to enlarge. Ruby yelped falling onto her rear in fright before scooting backwards as its height increasing with each passing second.

Soon, the light cleared revealing Agumon or what he changed into. He was now a large orange dinosaur with some kind of brown skull helmet with sharp horns.

"Greymon!" He said with a roar.

Ruby looked in pure shock. She had been told about Digivolution but still she was stunned that Agumon, a vertically-challenge creature had literally changed so drastically in the span of a few seconds.

Jafaru let out a loud shout before turning around and running off wanting to get away from the dinosaur as quickly as possible.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon shouted. He then shot out a large fireball out of his mouth forward soaring straight over the others' head until it struck the path right in front of Jafaru resulting in a large fire. The dark-skinned teenager yelped falling on his rear.

"Jafaru!" Betamon called out.

"Nova Blast! Nova Blast!" Greymon yelled sending two more large fireballs in opposite directions. They both landed in the middle of the two paths leading the way out of the vacant lot. Everyone looked on realizing that they were trapped by raging fire.

"Hey! Have you lost your mind!?" The Scottish young man shouted angrily.

"No, I have not. I am making one deal and one deal only." Greymon ordered. "Give me your Digivices and I let you leave here!"

Jafaru's first reaction was to undo the Digivice around his wrist to get ready to throw it at Greymon. However, Ethan saw what he was about to do and grabbed his wrist before he could toss the watch.

"What in the hell do you think you are doing!?" Ethan snapped.

"Saving myself from being fried, that's what!" Jafaru exclaimed trying to break free.

"Jafaru, you can't just give your Digivice away to some bigoted crook!" Hanako agreed. "We have to fight back!"

"Fight back?" The dark-skinned teenager asked in disbelief. "How!? Look at that thing! All it takes it one stomp to squash us!"

"Don't worry, Jafaru! That is what us Digimon partners are here!" Betamon reassured.

"Right! All right, Candlemon! Let's Digivolve!" Ruby said holding out her Digivice out while narrowing her eyes.

However all she got was silence. Widening her eyes, Ruby turned around to see Candlemon looking to the side.

"Candlemon? What are you waiting for?" Ruby asked. "This is the perfect chance to live your dream of Digivolving!"

"Um, well, the truth is…" The candle Digimon said sheepishly. "I don't know how the progress work!"

Ruby's eyes bugged out at this. "What!?"

"I know it sounds stupid but nobody knows how or when Digivolution with or without a human partner works!" Candlemon admitted.

"So are you saying that we have to wait a while before you can Digivolve?" Ruby asked in disbelief.

Candlemon nodded her head not looking proud about the fact.

"Well, what about the rest of you?" Ruby asked. "Can you Digivolve?"

Everyone paused.

"Um, no." Floramon admitted.

"Not yet…" Elecmon muttered as Betamon and Toyagumon shook their heads.

"What!?" Ruby gasped. "NONE of you could Digivolve?"

"Well, I only just met Floramon two weeks ago." Hanako admitted.

"Yeah, same here." Paolo agreed.

Ruby's jaw dropped in disbelief as Greymon chuckled.

"Now you guys get it, you are virtually defenceless." Greymon said. "Just surrender those Digivices and I will let you live!"

"Like heck we will!" Candlemon snapped giving her bag to Hanako.

"Agreed. We won't let you get away with theft and bullying." Floramon agreed.

"Indeed, we may be Rookies but we are not pushovers!" Elecmon said cracking his knuckles. "It is high-time for you to get off your high horse!"

"Don't worry, Jafaru!" Betamon said while growling. "I will protect you."

"Hey, so let's do it!" Toyagumon said bouncing forward.

"Just say the word, boss and I will ice that guy!" Gazimon smirked.

The Scottish teenager narrowed his eyes. "Do it."

Gazimon nodded his head before dashing over to Greymon baring his claws out. Greymon quickly spun around spinning his tail out trying to strike Gazimon. However, the Rookie Digimon slid underneath the attack.

"Paralyze Breath!" Gazimon shouted sending out purple gas at Greymon's foot striking it. However, all the dinosaur did was chuckled.

"That tickles!" Greymon chuckled before kicking his foot out at Gazimon who quickly jumped as the way.

"Lava Loogie!" Candlemon shouted spitting out a fireball out of his mouth.

"Rain of Pollen!" Floramon yelled sending out a large cloud of pollen out of her.

"Super Thunder Strike!" Elecmon shouted charging up electricity in his tails and sending it forwards.

"Electric Shock!" Betamon yelled engulfing himself with electricity as well before sending it out.

"Plastic Blaze!" Toyagumon shouted sending a Lego-like flame out of his mouth.

The five attacks clashed with Greymon's face causing him to let out a small grunt.

"Hey!" Gazimon said angrily glaring at the other Digimon. "I don't need your help!"

"Need our help? We didn't do this to help you!" Candlemon snapped. "We did it to take down this jerk!"

"Humph. Whatever. Just don't get in my way." Gazimon scoffed before rushing over to Greymon's leg and slashing at it. The other Digimon then rushed over.

"Stamen Rope!" Floramon shouted sending out vines out of her hands stretching all of the way to Greymon's neck wrapping themselves around it.

"All right, now!" Floramon yelled. The other Digimon nodded their heads before they ran over and latched themselves onto Greymon's stomach either biting, scratching or punching him.

"Whoa, they are a lot stronger than they look!" Ruby said looking in awe as she walked over to the others.

"Yeah, that is how the power of Digimon." Hanako giggled.

Jafaru stepped back looking absolutely horrified by what he was witnessing.

"Even the small ones have dangerous powers." Jafaru said shaking in his spot.

Greymon grunted in annoyance as his small attackers continued their assault. "Get off!"

With that, he grabbed Elecmon off of him and threw the electric Rookie straight at Floramon knocking both of them to the ground and releasing Floramon's grip on them. Greymon then stomped his foot on the ground hard knocking the others off of him.

He then kicked his foot out striking them sending them over to Floramon and Elecmon who were just getting up.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon shouted spitting out a large fireball at the downed Digimon. The humans looked in horror at the huge projectile clashed into the six Digimon hard knocking each and every one of them down with large burns on them.

"Floramon!" Hanako cried as she, Ethan and Paolo ran over to their respective Digimon partners. Even the Scottish young man had made his way over to Gazimon kneeling down next to him.

"Floramon, are you all right?" Hanako asked cradling Floramon in her arms.

"Hanako…" The flower Digimon said weakly. "He is too strong…"

Ethan growled before glaring at Greymon. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size like me?"

"Hey, THEY attacked first! Had you just listen to what I had said, none of this would have happened!" Greymon scolded. "But seeing that all of your Digimon are down, you have no choice but to surrender your Digivices!"

"And who said that I was out!?"

Everyone's eyes widened before they saw Candlemon springing up landing on her candlestick with her flames burning brightly.

"Do you really think I would be taking out by my own element?" Candlemon asked cracking her knuckles. "I am a candle, bub!"

Greymon merely rolled his eyes. "So I missed one! Big whoop! I still got you beat!"

"We'll see!" Candlemon shouted before spinning around in place. "Paraffin Paralzyer!"

After saying her attack, she sent out several multiple globs of wax at Greymon striking him in the stomach. The reptile cried out from the scorching pain of the wax. Candlemon smirked before hopping over to Greymon as quickly as she could before doing a diving headbutt into the waxed part of Greymon's belly.

The Champion Digimon cried out even louder. Candlemon smirked in success upon hearing what she had done.

However, her smirk faded when she saw Greymon spun around in place whipping Candlemon with her tail. The others gasped as the candle Digimon bouncing across the ground for a few times before landing straight on her face hard.

Greymon growled angrily before making his way towards Candlemon. The others watched in disdain as Candlemon struggled to hold herself on her hands before looking straight up to see Greymon lifting his foot up about ready to send it now.

Ruby's pupils shrank.

"STOP!"

Everyone looked at Ruby as she ran over to Greymon with her Digivice in her hand.

"Please wait!" Ruby begged. "You could have my Digivice!"

"What!?" Hanako, Ethan and Candlemon exclaimed.

"FINALLY, someone who sees the bigger picture!" Greymon said crossing his arms with a smirk.

"What in the world are you doing!?" Candlemon demanded.

"Saving you!" Ruby replied.

"Saving me? I don't need any saving!" Candlemon snapped struggling to get up.

"Yes, you do! This is an one-sided fight and you can't win!" Ruby snapped.

"No, Ruby, please… It had been one of my long-life dreams to be able to Digivolve." Candlemon begged with her face softening. "Don't just throw it away to this crook."

The farm girl paused with a sympathetic look on her face. She then let a small sigh.

"Sorry, Candlemon but I am doing this for your own good." She said.

With that, she prepared to throw the Digivice at Greymon. Candlemon's pupils as Greymon's smirk grew larger realizing that he had won.

It was then a miracle happened. When Ruby was about to throw her Digivice, a bright light engulfed it. Everyone's eyes widened as Ruby lowered her arm to get a closer look at what was happening. It was two lines on top of the Digivice's screen at different lengths. Ruby was immediately reminded of the hands of an analog clock.

"That light…" Hanako asked in disbelief.

"It can't be…" The red-haired young man muttered.

"No freaking way…" Ethan said.

Even Greymon was stunned. "How… How is CANDLEMON able to Digivolve?"

"What… What is happening?" Ruby asked.

Candlemon's eyes lit up as she stood up straight on her stick. "Ruby!"

The brunette girl jumped looking down at Candlemon. "W-What?"

"Turn the long hand in a clockwise direction and repeat what I say!" Candlemon ordered. "Quicken the sands of time! Enter the age of the Champion!"

Greymon immediately broke out of his shock before narrowing his eyes. "Oh no, you don't! NOVA BLAST!"

He then sent out another fireball at the two. Candlemon narrowed her eyes before diving straight at the projectile. Ruby's eyes bugged out before quickly putting her finger on the long hand of the Digivice.

"Q-Quicken the sands of time!" Ruby said in desperation. "E-Enter the age of the Champion!"

When she had said the last word of her sentence, the two hands were now aligned with each other. Suddenly, another bright light appeared. This time engulfing Candlemon just as the large fireball collided with her.

Much to Ruby's pleasant surprise, the light had managed to protect Candlemon as she harmlessly floated down to the ground.

"Candlemon Digivolves to…"

Everyone looked on with wide eyes and slack jaws as Candlemon started to grow. As she continued to do so, Ruby suddenly found the atmosphere getting hotter as her pigtails billowed.

Then, the light subsided revealing what Candlemon had transformed into. She was now a tall humanoid with a literally flaming body that made her look even more like a male than a female. She had pupil-less blue eyes and his mouth seemed to have some kind of stitching on it.

"Meramon!"

Everyone looked in awe not believing that they were seeing. The reason for most of them was that Candlemon was able to Digivolve literally in just under thirty minutes after first meeting with Ruby.

Ruby couldn't believe that this wasn't Candlemon anymore even though she previously saw it with Agumon. She watched as Candlemon's new form looking over herself looking just as awestruck as everyone else.

"This… Is… AWESOME!" She grinned clenching her fists creating a small burst of fire in each of them. "I KNEW that I would Digivolve into a Meramon! I knew it!"

Ruby continued to stare as Meramon flexed her muscles. "C-Candlemon?"

Meramon looked back with a smirk. "No, I am Candlemon now!"

Greymon then got over his shock and narrowed his eyes. "So you are a Champion now. Big whoop! I would like to remind you that you cannot beat natural Digivolution!"

Meramon glared at Greymon with a growl. "I had been waiting a long time for this moment! Everyone, get back!"

Everyone stepped back at Meramon got into a stance. Greymon snorted out steam out of his nostrils before spinning his tail at his opponent but the flaming Digimon managed to catch it and while she did skidded a few feet, she stopped herself.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon shouted sending a giant ball of fire straight at Meramon. However, the latter merely avoided herself to be struck by the giant fireball where it did no damage. Greymon growled before charging forward head-first towards her. Meramon narrowed her eyes.

"Burning Fist!" Meramon shouted sending her fist into Greymon's helmet. Despite his head being well-protected, Meramon's punch actually managed to make him stagger backwards stunned. Greymon shook his head to get rid of his dizziness only for Meramon to rush and punch in the stomach.

Greymon coughed out a bit of saliva before furiously spinning around catching Meramon in the stomach with his tail. The flaming Digimon fell straight into a nearby wall hard. She groaned before looking up over to Greymon rushing forward.

"Burning Fist!" Meramon shouted doing a hard uppercut actually managing to knock the dinosaur into the air onto his back.

While she was fighting, she was having the time of her life. Meramon felt stronger, faster and more alert. A wonderful sensation was felt when she uses one of her new attacks. This was everything she was dreaming about.

Meanwhile, Greymon got up not believing what was happening. How could a Digimon who needed a human partner to Digivolve possibly match up with him, let alone one who literally just Digivolved to Champion for the first time?

"You will not beat me!" Greymon shouted dashing over to Meramon. The female Digimon narrowed her eyes tightly.

"Magma Bomb!" Meramon shouted holding her hands up into the air. This resulted in both of them being engulfed in bright energy. Suddenly, several flares appeared out of them flailing around with some of them striking Greymon resulting in a barrage of small explosions. Greymon grunted as he stepped back closing his eyes so they weren't be damaged.

"Humph. All that was a nuisance." Greymon spat as he opened his eyes. "Now…"

"Burning Fist!"

Greymon's pupils shrank in pain as he felt a fist hard in his stomach. Meramon smirked as she watched Greymon double over before following up the attack.

"Burning Fist!" Meramon shouted punching Greymon square in the jaw. He spun around in place before falling on his place. Meramon smirked as she raised her fists ready for more.

"Taste that, Greymon?" Meramon asked. "That is the taste of Crowmon!"

The dinosaur groaned before glaring up at Meramon with hatred burning in his eyes. "Why you!"

"What is going on here!?"

Everyone's eyes widened before they turned their heads to see someone taking a large object and using it to stamp one of the fires still off allowing access to the area. It was Gallantmon with his large shield with Beelzemon behind him.

"Honestly, out of all things." Gallantmon said narrowing his eyes. "The Digital World is having more than one crisis and here you are using the city as one big battleground!"

"Gallantmon! Beelzemon!" Toyagumon called out before pointing at Greymon. "Thank goodness you are here! This Greymon is trying to steal our partner's Digivices!"

"Yeah, we were trying to defend ourselves!" Ruby agreed.

"L-Liar!" Greymon snapped. "The one doing self-defence is me!"

Meramon gave an exasperated glare. "Are you for real? You have twelve witnesses AND a motive for stealing the Digivices!"

"Shut up!" Greymon snapped.

Beelzemon raised an eyebrow. "Wait, aren't you the Agumon who ran that big speech warning humans about the dangers that were currently going around this Digital World?"

Greymon's eyes lit up realizing that he was saved. "That's right, I did! That is why I would never do something like steal other people's Digivices!"

Before anyone could call him out of his deceits, everyone's eyes widened when they saw Gallanatmon and Beelzemon pointed their respective weapons at him.

"Greymon, you are under arrest." Gallantmon said sternly.

"E-Excuse me?" The dinosaur asked in disbelief.

"Don't play dumb with us! Not too soon after the portal closed down, they had been complaints of a couple of Digivice thefts!" Beelzemon said with a smirk. "Some witnesses said that you were there at the scene of the crime at the time so we came looking for you asking for some questions!"

"But after these guys had pointed their fingers at you, it proves that you are the prime suspect!" Gallantmon agreed.

"W-What!? THAT is why you are taking me in!" Greymon said before narrowing his eyes. "You have little hard evidence on me!"

"Maybe but we got more than enough to take you in." Beelzemon smirked before walking over to Greymon to arrest him.

Meanwhile, Gallantmon crouched down to the others' level with a concerned stare. "Are you guys all right? Are you hurt?"

"Um, no, we are fine…" Hanako said.

"We'll live…" Elecmon muttered dusting off his arm.

"Are you sure? You sound shaken from the whole thing." Gallantmon said.

"It is not the evil dinosaur attack that shaken us." Ethan muttered hanging his head.

Meanwhile, Beelzemon was dragging Greymon trying desperately to break free.

"Please! This is all a misunderstanding!" Greymon pleaded.

"Yeah, it is a misunderstanding why people saw good in you." Meramon snarked putting her hands on her hips.

Greymon growled glaring at Meramon. "Don't get cocky just because you could Digivolve! No matter what, you are still an incomplete Digimon resorting to having a HUMAN hold your hand to do so! People like you make me sick!"

"Yeah, way to play the victim card, buddy." Beelzemon said walking off.

Gallantmon stood up straight. "I believe we got enough people to tell us WHY Agumon would start to steal Digivices but I would like all of your statements on how the attack went!"

"O-Of course…" Floramon said.

Soon, everyone but Ruby and Meramon followed Gallantmon out of the lot still stunned by what had just happened. Then, a bright light engulfed Meramon's body. Ruby turned her head to see the Digimon shrinking down. The farm girl's eyes widened when the light cleared revealing Candlemon.

"What? What happened?" Ruby gasped. "You are Meramon again!"

"It is easier to get around this way." Candlemon shrugged.

She then grinned.

"The most important part is that I Digivolved!" Candlemon said jumping up and down excitedly. "I actually Digivolved! Hoo yeah! Does it feel great that I Digivolved?"

"Um, I am happy for you..." Ruby said scratching the back of her head.

Candlemon then stopped jumping around to glare up at Ruby with a solemn look on her face.

"Seriously though, what you did back there was stupid." Candlemon scolded.

Ruby immediately got offended. "Stupid?"

"Yeah, you literally nearly gave my only chance of Digivolving AND your only chance of going home to that idiot!" Candlemon said narrowing her eyes.

Ruby put her hands on her hips with narrowed eyes. "Well, excuuuuuse me for saving your life!"

Ruby and Candlemon paused for a moment glaring into each other's eyes as a deep silence surrounded her. By now the fires that Greymon made had slowly died down several piles of ash in their places.

Suddenly, Candlemon spoke up speaking in a cold manner.

"To be unable to Digivolve is worse than death…" She spat.

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "Even now, all you care about if Digivolution…"

Candlemon paused before sighing. "Look, I know what I did was unforgivable so I won't beg for it. But if you have ANY sort of mercy in her heart, you would guard that Digivice with your life."

"I…" Ruby said before she was cut off.

"Hey, guys!"

Ruby and Candlemon's eyes widened before turning their heads to see Toyagumon waving it them.

"Everything's okay? The others are worried about you!" Toyagumon said waving them over.

Candlemon hopped forward. "Yeah, don't worry about us! We are coming!"

"H-Hey, wait!" Ruby started. "You can't just have me risk my life for something I literally just got a half an hour ago!"

"Don't worry, I will risk MY life to protect you AND the Digivice, Ruby." Candlemon said hopping ahead.

"That's not the point!" The brunette girl yelled. "Get back here!"

Unfortunately for her, Candlemon didn't listened to her and merely headed towards Toyagumon to exit the vacant lot. Ruby stared at her so-called partner for a moment before holding down at her Digivice. So much had happened in the span of thirty minutes. If she had gone through so much drama now, who knows what she may have to do later on.

"This is going to suck…"


	3. Tall Poppy Syndrome

Ruby let out a sigh of relief as she exited the building she had spent the last ten minutes in. She assumed that it was the police station obviously since that where Gallantmon and Beelzemon led them along with a furious Greymon for what he had done to them. All that mattered was that jerk was behind presumably behind bars and she was safe from him.

"Yo, Rubes!"

The brunette's eyes widened before she turned around to see Candlemon hopping towards her with a huge grin on her face. She immediately scoffed in annoyance while rolling her eyes.

"What is it, Candlemon?" Ruby asked trying everything in her power to fight saying something snarky.

"Well, in all of the madness, I had forgotten all about what I had brought for you from Reppamon's shop!" Candlemon said holding her up her bag from earlier.

At first, Ruby was going to protest but then she realized at how pitifully small the bag was. Surely, there can't be an entire outfit in there, can there?

"Um, okay. What you got?" Ruby asked.

Candlemon didn't need another cue as she excitedly reached into her bag and pulled out the sole contents in it.

A pair of goggles. Ruby's eyes widened immediately remembering her brother, Jasper.

"That's all?" Ruby asked surprised.

"Yep, that's all." Candlemon grinned. "Trust me, it was a hassle trying to explain that to Reppamon in time to go and find you."

"Um, all right. Why those goggles?" Ruby asked.

A glint had flashed in Candlemon's eye.

"I am glad you asked!" She said before looking up to the side. "It had been written in legend through many ages about a group of human children and their Digimon fighting to save both the Digital AND the human world. The group varied from each ages but there was one thing that seemed like a tread."

She then looked back at Ruby with her eyes lighting up.

"They all wore goggles!" Candlemon grinned. "So if you wear these babies, maybe we will be destined to save both the Digital AND maybe the human world or something similar to that."

Ruby blinked twice processing all the info she had just taken in.

"That is one of the stupidest things I had ever heard." She said flatly.

Candlemon's grin quickly turned into a scowl. "Excuse me!?"

"You heard me. Are you saying that just wearing those things makes me destined to save both worlds or something like that?" Ruby asked pointing her finger. "I know you seemed like the type of person to act before you think but seriously."

Candlemon growled as her flame burned brightly. "Just wear the stupid goggles! Believe it or not, Reppamon made me lose quite a bit of my money!"

"Fine!" Ruby said rolling her eyes. "It is the closest thing to a reasonable favour you had gave me so far."

Candlemon grunted as she watched Ruby swiped the goggles out of the candle's hands before placing them on top of her forehead and letting them stay there for a moment.

"There, happy?" Ruby asked.

Candlemon crossed her arms. "Yes, I am. Because now whether you like it or not, now you HAVE to go on an adventure sooner or later!"

"I prefer later." Ruby said coolly.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group including the Scottish teen and his Gazimon partner stared at the mismatched duo as they exchanged insults as each other.

"Gosh, you think that seeing that they are partners, they should more or less TRY to get along." Toyagumon frowned.

However, he was the only one who was concerned about that. The others were all thinking about mostly one thing.

Why them? Why did Ruby get her Digimon partner to Digivolve when they had little to no good chemistry with each other? All Ruby did was throw away her Digivice just to protect Candlemon. While a selfless act, they knew that it took a lot more than that for their Digimon to Digivolve.

Which brought up a similar question. Why not them? They haven't been in the Digital World for that long but they still appeared there far longer than Ruby. Yet their Digimon partners haven't felt a single sign of Digivolving.

As for Jafaru, he nervously looked down at the Digimon partners with a frightened face. By appearance only, they all seemed absolutely terrifying in his eyes. But to have the ability to breathe fire, emit electricity AND grow into more frightening and stronger monsters? This was the world he was trapped in.

Finally, Candlemon had enough of arguing with Ruby and shook her head. "Whatever. Well, THAT little trip is over with, where do you guys want to go next?"

"The Baba Inn." Hanako spoke up getting the others' attention.

"Hmm?" Ruby asked.

"The Baba Inn. I want to check in for the day." Hanako said softly.

Candlemon stared at Hanako in disbelief. "Check in for the day? It is quarter to nine in the morning!"

"Yeah, AFTER we got attacked by a giant bigoted fire-breathing dinosaur." Ruby pointed out.

"Y-Yeah... That incident really took a lot out of me..." Hanako said holding her arm.

"Yes, I need some rest to recover from it." Paolo said softly with his hat covering his eyes.

"I am just tired..." Jafaru muttered.

"Well, if you are tired, Jafaru, then let's go check into the Baba Inn." Betamon offered.

"Yes, I think we ALL need some time to rest and recover." Floramon nodded.

Candlemon slumped her arms in defeat. Ruby noticed this and smirked.

"All right, so where is this inn?" Ruby asked.

Hanako beckoned with her finger. "Come, it is not too far away."

Ruby nodded before looking at the Scottish teen. "So what about you?"

The red-haired man raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"

"Are you going to the Baba Inn too?" Ruby asked.

The Scottish youth scoffed in disgust. "If I checked in there, I would be forced to stay in a group. I already told you that I work alone."

"Yeah, the boss is a loner, a drifter, a liver of his own rules!" Gazimon said.

"Oh, is that why he is leaving without you again?" Betamon asked.

Gazimon's eyes widened before turning around to see the Scottish youth storm off.

"Boss, at least give me a signal that we are leaving!" He said scampering off after his partner.

Elecmon winced in disgust. "I almost feel sorry for him."

"Yeah, almost." Candlemon spat before sighing in defeat. "Come on, let's go to the Baba Inn."

"Whatever. Do what you want." Ethan spat.

Everyone nodded their heads before they had made their way over to the inn so they could rest there for the night. However, sleeping in an entire different world was far from what was going through most of the humans' minds right now.

/-/-/-/-/-/

It didn't took everyone that long to reach the Baba Inn. Ruby stared up at it in surprise at how huge the building was. She never been to an inn before but even she knew that this was more of a hotel than an inn.

"Whoa, this is it?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, it is." Hanako said. "Let's go."

"Fine." Ethan scoffed.

Ruby and Candlemon stared as they watched everyone enter the Baba Inn sensing the cold attitude from Hanako and Ethan which was a major contrast to what they had seen earlier.

"Sheesh, I know that it wasn't the grandest experience in the world but it wasn't THAT bad!" Candlemon said scratching the side of her head.

"L-let's just go inside." Ruby said.

Candlemon merely shrugged before following the group inside. There, Ruby found out how nice and expensive it looked. Bright red wallpaper everywhere with potted plants in the corner and a large fountain in the middle of it. There were quite a few humans and Digimon moving around.

"Oh joy... More freeloaders..."

Everyone turned their heads to see a humanoid-like Digimon behind a counter. She looked like a vertically-challenged old woman wearing a green robe that looked like the old Native-Americans wore. She had greying hair dressed in a bun and had a broom in her hand.

"Um, hey." Hanako greeted. "I take it you are the owner of this place, correct?"

"No, I literally just started working here today at the Baba Inn." The old woman said before yelling. "Of course I am the owner of this place, you little ninny!"

Everyone jumped at the old woman's shout.

"S-Sorry!" Hanako apologized.

"I say you are." The old woman muttered. "Look, just tell me your names and if this is your full group."

"Um, yes, it is." Hanako said.

"Joy..." The woman said picking up a pen. "Now I have a room with five beds for all of you."

Ethan's eyes bugged out. "Five beds!? But there is ten of us!"

"So share a bed with your partner." The woman said simply.

"What!?" Ruby exclaimed before looking down at Candlemon. She then looked back at the old woman. "You want me to share a bed with a living LIT candle!?"

"Child, if I had it MY way, I would had charged each and every one of you for the room but life is just not fair, is it?" The old woman said.

Everyone narrowed their eyes. Already they dislike the old woman and her negative attitude even though they were all clearly in a pinch.

"Just tell me your stupid names so I could write it down." The old woman spat.

After everyone had given their names and who their Digimon partners were (albeit with less than positive replies), the old woman wrote them down in a book.

"There. That is everyone." She said.

She then picked up a small bell and shook it letting it ring for a bit. A few seconds later, a new figure had made their way over to them. Ruby's eyes bugged out when she saw that it was a very tall humanoid woman.

She had on a chrome helmet covering her eyes and the top of her ridiculously-long hair and she seemed to be an angel judging by her eight white wings on her back. What really caught Ruby's attention was her strange white jumpsuit that showed quite a bit of her skin.

"Yes, Miss Babamon?" The angel-like woman asked.

"These freeloaders want to go into room 64." The old woman said taking a key off of the wall with her free hand and throwing it at the angel who quickly caught it.

"Oh great." The angel-like woman scoffed. "Come on, you little gremlins. Let me take you to your room."

Everyone again narrowed their eyes. Literally just two lines and already she seemed just as bad as the old woman. However, not wanting to start a fight, they all followed the angel-like Digimon.

Everyone had followed the angel into the elevator before the angel-like Digimon pushed another button closing the doors and caused it to slowly ascend upwards. This resulted in a bit of awkward silence for a moment.

Then, Betamon finally spoke up. "So, Angewomon. I think you already know but I am a Betamon and my partner's name is..."

"I am not getting paid for helping you so I don't care." The angel-like woman spat without turning towards him.

It was then Candlemon had enough. "What is with this place? What kind of inn treats its customers like crap?"

Angewoman then looked down at Candlemon when the latter said this. Even though her eyes were covered by her helmet, it was clear that she was casting the candle a nasty glare.

"Easy. The inn that has to pretend to treat a bunch of freeloaders like customers even though they are not spending one single Digibit." Angewoman snapped.

"Hey, that's not OUR fault! Our partners are stranded here with no place to go!" Elecmon scolded.

"And it is not OUR fault that we have to take care of you people even though that we will not be getting any money from you AND our paychecks had to be cut just to supply food for you brats." Angewoman spat. "Look, just stay out of my way. As of right now, I can't even stand to LOOK at you humans!"

Candlemon and Elecmon growled at the angel but she merely scoffed before looking on ahead. Thankfully, the elevator had stopped ascending signalling that they had reached the floor. The doors then opened up allowing Angewomon to exit with the others reluctantly following.

After a few seconds of walking, they had finally arrived at a door with the number 64 on it.

"Here." Angewomon said throwing the key to the group. Ethan quickly caught it. "Breakfast starts at 9 o'clock sharp while dinner starts at 6 p.m. Any food in between, you WILL have to buy on your own so no whining."

Ethan narrowed his eyes. "You are the only whiner here..."

"What was that?" Angewomon snapped.

"You heard me!" Ethan snapped.

"Ethan, please! This is not worth it." Hanako begged.

Angewomon scoffed before walking off. "Whatever. I am done here."

The group glared at her watching her leave. At first being stuck here in the Digital World was bad enough but now they were stuck with a staff of unfriendly and unsympathetic people.

Ethan growled before putting the key into the keyhole and turned it. Once he had unlocked it, he opened it allowing the others to see it.

It was just as the old woman stated. It was a nice, clean room with five beds with along a dresser and a lamp with two windows looking out of the inn. There was also a door leading to the bathroom.

"Wow, this place looks pretty nice!" Toyagumon said with sparkling eyes.

"I say! At least the inn itself doesn't match the staff's attitude!" Candlemon agreed looking around.

"I call dibs on one of the beds next to the window!" Toyagumon called out.

"And I call dibs on the OTHER one!" Candlemon smirked.

With that, the two Digimon both raced towards the beds at the end with Ruby looking in horror, particularly at Candlemon

"Hey, wait! Those two Digimon are already cranky enough as it is!" Ruby warned. "What will happen if you burn the room down!"

"Relax, relax!" Candlemon said leaping on the bed. "My flame doesn't actually burn anything unless I want it too!"

"Really?" Ruby asked surprised.

"Yeah, take a look!" Candlemon said picking up a pillow and putting it over her flame. "See? Not a single trail of smoke."

"So are we going to breakfast?" Toyagumon asked.

"No, I already ate." Hanako said quickly.

"Yeah, same here." Ethan said while Paolo nodded.

"I am just tired..." Jafaru said.

Candlemon grunted in annoyance. "Well, you sure know how to make a Digimon feel welcome."

"Get over yourself!" Ethan snapped. "We are not here to support you!"

"Ethan!" Elecmon snapped.

"Ugh, stop fighting, both of you!" Hanako scolded. "It had been a rough morning for us all!"

"Both?" Candlemon asked in disbelief. "I hardly said any fighting words!"

"Well, it just goes to show how irritating your presence." Paolo said coldly.

"I say..." Jafaru spat.

Candlemon wasn't the only one slack-jawed. In fact, all of the Digimon partners stared with wide eyes at what their respective partners just said. Ruby on the other hand looking around sensing all of the tension that was starting from a mile away.

"Um, all right. It is time for bed." Ruby said clapping her hands together.

"Oh hell no! I am far from tired!" Candlemon snapped jumping off the bed. "You jerks got me too fired up!"

"Wait, where are you going?" Toyagumon called out.

"Anywhere THESE guys are not!" Candlemon spat hopping over to the door and turning the knob of the door opening it. "Don't wait up!"

"Fine!" Ethan scoffed.

With that, she exited the door and closed it behind her. Everyone stared at the door for a moment.

"Sheesh, I am not having a grand time myself but still that was kinda harsh..." Ruby cringed holding her head.

After a moment of silence, they had made their way over to their respective beds and laid down. Betamon jumped up to climb onto the bed but only managed to grab the side of the bed with his front legs.

"Um, Jafaru? A little help here?" Betamon asked trying to get up.

The dark-skinned youth yelped scooting back on the bed. "No! Get away!"

"What? Why?" Betamon asked now struggling not to fall off.

"Just... Just stay away!" Jafaru exclaimed as he watch Betamon fall onto his back.

"Hey, what is your problem?" Ruby asked narrowing her eyes. "Where is Betamon supposed to stay?"

"He could sleep on the moon for all I care but he is NOT sleeping on the same bed as me!" Jafaru exclaimed.

"But Jafaru..." Betamon said sadly.

However, the young man laid down on his bed leaving his partner's cries on deaf ears. The other Digimon felt sorry for him.

Ruby also cast a sad look. "All right, Betamon. You could stay with me."

"O-Okay..." The tadpole Digimon sighed before making his way over to Ruby's bed. The brunette girl then reached down and picked up Betamon so he wouldn't have to climb up.

"Better?" Ruby asked.

"Y-yeah..." Betamon nodded. "Thank you."

"No probs. Just try not to wake me up unless something happens, okay?" Ruby asked.

"Okay..." Betamon said softly.

Ruby let out a small sigh. It was more than refreshing to know that there were more than a couple of good Digimon around here as she laid down in her bed next to him.

She still couldn't believe what was happening to her. In the span of thirty minutes, she had gone from sleeping on the sofa in her home to sleeping in a bed next to a strange tadpole literally in another world.

Also, she wondered how her family would react when they had come back from their bowling night and found out that she wasn't around. How would they react? Would she ever see them again?

Ruby gave another sad sigh. Hopefully the portal would be fixed soon so that she would return her.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Unknown to Ruby, Jafaru and Betamon, none of the others had actually fell asleep. They were all sitting on their beds staring at Ruby. Once the farm girl had having a nap, the others spoke what was on their minds.

"What does that girl have that we don't have?" Ethan spat.

"Indeed. Her bond with Candlemon is practically non-existent." Paolo said crossing his arms. "Why does she get to have her Digimon Digivolve before us?"

"Wow, don't you think you two are being cold?" Floramon asked.

"Cold!?" Ethan said trying not to wake up the sleeping people. "Elecmon and I worked our butts and then this slacker comes out of nowhere and in the span of a few minutes, BOOM, Champion mode!"

"Hey, I can't say that I am that happy that a couple of newbies get to Digivolve before us but still maybe that there is something she did that you didn't!" Elecmon said looking down.

"Like what?" Ethan asked. "All she did was nearly her Digivice to a punk!"

"Yes, while it is selfless in theory, it had been noted that it took a lot more than that to Digivolve." Paolo noted.

"Guys, that is really mean." Toyagumon said shaking his head. "Can't you be happy for Ruby and Candlemon?"

"Oh, sure! Be happy for being outshined by a couple of noobs! Right!" Ethan said collapsing on his bed.

"It is not that we can't be happy for them. It is just that they didn't deserve it." Paolo said.

Floramon frowned at the negative answers from Ethan and Paolo. She then looked at Hanako who had been quiet the entire time. The Asian girl sat on her bed hugging her knees.

"Hanako? Surely you don't have the same opinion as these two, do you?" Floramon asked.

The Asian girl didn't answer. She merely sat on her bed in silence. Floramon got a bit concerned at this.

"Well, good grief. If you are going to be bitter at Ruby, at least have the common decency to not badmouth her when she is literally lying down like there!" Elecmon said pointing at Ruby.

"Yeah, can't we do something OTHER than sitting here and being mean to Ruby and Candlemon?" Floramon asked. "But it is clear that is the only reason you guys feigned tiredness."

Ethan paused for a moment looking at the ceiling in thought. He then sat up with a scoff.

"Fine. Better than staying in here all day." Ethan sighed.

Paolo nodded his head. "Ruby is probably going to stay in here for the day anyway and Candlemon probably doesn't want to do anything with us for a while."

Floramon looked up at Hanako. "Well..."

The Asian girl then let out a sigh. "Fine, let's just go."

"Yay! Let's go..." Toyagumon said excitedly. However, his mouth was immediately clamped shut by Paolo.

"Shh! The others are sleeping." The Hispanic child scolded.

"Oh yes, what about Jafaru and Betamon?" Floramon asked.

"Jafaru seemed more concerned about living a brand-new world rather the whole concept of Digivolving." Paolo suggested.

"And poor Betamon probably wouldn't go anywhere without him." Elecmon sighed.

"Jafaru is still new here. He will probably warm up to Digimon soon enough." Floramon said.

"I hope so for Betamon's case." Toyagumon frowned.

Paolo nodded his head before turning to Ethan. "Ethan, you have the key right. Place it on the dresser with a note attached to it saying that we had gone out."

"All right..." The Australian youth said getting up from his seat.

Hanako however, merely sighed. She wanted to be away from Ruby and Candlemon for as much as possible. She just didn't need to be reminded of how better the two were of her.

/-/-/-/-/-/

After leaving the key to the hotel room along with a note saying that they had gone out for Ruby, Candlemon, Jafaru and Betamon, the others made their way out of the inn in an attempt to try to forget about what had happened with Ruby and the others. The group of six had made their way through the city trying to figure out what to do next.

"Well, where are we going to go?" Toyagumon asked.

"Good question." Elecmon noted.

Floramon paused thinking about a few good suggestions. Suddenly, her head jerked up in surprise in surprise.

"Oh, I almost forget about it!" Floramon exclaimed.

"Forget about what?" Elecmon asked.

"There is this big flower show happening at the city's resident greenhouse today and I..." Floramon started.

"Pass." Ethan said quickly.

Elecmon glared up at Ethan. "And who gave YOU the go-ahead of what we can and can't do?"

"Besides, it sounds like it is very special, right?" Toyagumon asked.

"It is!" Floramon exclaimed. "Apparently, there should be having all types of different flowers from all over the digital world. Including some contest winners of city shows so we will be seeing talented florists from all over as well."

"People literally travelled from all over the world just to show off their flowers?" Ethan asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I know. I regret that due to the recent disasters, they may had been cancelled but I still want to see if it would be open answer." Floramon explained.

"Riiiiight. I was referring to the disasters." Ethan said shifting his eyes from left to right. Elecmon slapped him in the back of the leg.

"Come, let's go see if we have to privilege of bathing in the beauty of this Digital World." Floramon said. "If we do, we can't let this chance pass."

"Sure, I'll go!" Toyagumon cheered.

"Same here." Paolo nodded.

"If the flowers are really that rare even for this world, it is worth a see." Elecmon said.

Ethan stared down at his partner. "Et tu, Elecmon?"

Floramon looked up at Hanako with a pleading look in her eyes. "Can we please go, Hanako?"

The Asian girl merely shrugged. "I am not the leader. You can go do what you want."

Floramon shook her head at the lack at enthusiasm in her voice. Ethan on the other hand looking around realizing he was outnumbered. Finally, he let out a deep sigh of defeat.

"All right. I will come too." Ethan sighed.

"Yay, it is unanimous!" Toyagumon cheered.

"Only because it would be not like my vote would matter." Ethan muttered.

Floramon giggled at Ethan's unmotivated personality. At least it was actually amusing in its own way. However, her main focus was to try to get the humans' minds off of Ruby and Candlemon for a while.

/-/-/-/-/-/

After a few minutes of walking, Floramon had led the group to where the greenhouse was. Soon, the group found itself gaping in awe looking up at a large dome standing in front of them. They could see the top of tall trees from the honeycomb rooftop.

"Wow, THIS is the greenhouse?" Ethan asked in disbelief.

"Well, I am pleasantly surprised, Ethan." Floramon said looking up at the blonde youth. "And I didn't think you would realize nature's wonder until we actually enter the dome."

"It is not that. It is just that I didn't expect greenhouses to be so big." Ethan noted.

"Well, of course greenhouses are supposed to like this." Floramon giggled. "How else are we going to fit in all of the plant life?"

Ethan blinked twice. "Um, I don't know about plant life but I DO that it is not THAT large."

"Well, see for yourselves." Floramon said as they made their way over to the entrance.

There was a booth next to it. On it was a box and a sensor with a small Digimon behind it. The Digimon in question was some kind of green larva-like Digimon tucked inside of a cocoon attached to a thin line of web attached to the building.

"Hello! Welcome to the Botanical Dome!" The Digimon said brightly. "Would you like entry for six?"

"Yes, please." Floramon nodded.

"Would you like to pay up with cash or credit?" The Digimon asked.

"Credit." Floramon said before looking at Hanako. "Sorry, Hanako, do you mind?"

"Um, sure." The dark-haired girl said holding up her wrist showing her Digivice. "Us humans will pay for us and our partners."

Ethan and Paolo nodded holding up their wrists as well. One by one, they moved their Digivice over to the scanner. The larva Digimon looked at the scanner for a moment and nodded his head.

"Thank you very much!" He said pointing with his tiny arm. "Come on in!"

As if on cue, the doors opened up for the group allowing them to come inside.

"Why, thank you." Floramon said as the group slowly walked into the greenhouse.

As the six walked in, they were instantly with a grand scenery of plants. Everywhere there was a bunch of green whether it was in form of trees and grass. Though it wasn't completely green as it had a variety of colors from the flowers and even some of the leaves.

"Wow, look at this place." Toyagumon said looking around in awe.

Floramon smiled before turning around and looking at the group. "My friends! Welcome to nature from all over the world!"

Everyone looked around for a moment taking in everything into them. Even Ethan looked mildly interested.

"Well, where do we go first?" Elecmon asked.

Floramon looked over to a billboard that had a map on it before reading it over.

"Well, let's see if we could find it." Floramon mused. She then found it. "Oh, the flower show is quite a way away. All we have to do is follow this path towards it. On the other hand, let's take the scenic route!"

"All right. Lead on, Floramon." Paolo said.

The flower Digimon happily nodded before walking away with the others following her. As they did, they all took the time to witness all of the plants they were passing. Much to the humans' surprise, they passed a tree that seemed to be growing something.

"Wait. Is that MEAT on that tree?" Ethan asked.

Toyagumon looked up at the Australian youth in confusion. "Of course! Where do you get YOUR meat from?"

"Um, we usually get it from..." Ethan started.

"Shh!" Paolo scolded startling the others. He then pointed his finger behind him. Everyone looked to see a human male walking by. However, their attention turned to a small pig-like Digimon with wings on their back. Ethan and Hanako's eyes widened in realization.

"Thanks, kid. That was a close one." Ethan said holding his head as the Digimon looked up him in confusion.

"Um, all right..." Floramon said before looking around trying to change the subject. "Hey, look, it is a set of Venus Fly Traps."

Paolo raised his eyebrow. "You have Venus Fly Traps here?"

"Venus Fly Traps? The bugs here are literally the size of koalas at the smallest." Ethan asked before looking around. "How will the plants..."

That was before he froze when he saw the plants. There were actually large. More than enough to eat a Champion-level Digimon.

"Whoa..." Ethan said in awe.

"Interesting." Paolo said walking forward. "Where do these plants grow and should we ever go into an area with them, how do we avoid it?"

Ethan stared at the child in disbelief. "How the hell do you miss something THAT big?"

"Actually, Ethan, while it stands out here, it is very easy to not notice them in their natural habitat." Floramon warned. "They blend right into the green."

Elecmon's eyes widened. "You mean even a skilled traveller with a watchful eye could actually step into one of these things if he has little to no knowledge of it?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Floramon said. "Because of this, us plant Digimon had taken it become us to find any and all Venus Fly Traps and moved them to various places here."

Ethan blinked twice. "Wouldn't it be just easier to burn them all?"

Everyone else especially Floramon looked with horrified eyes.

"Champ, what you asked was the equivalent of asking a human to kill off one of their cousins!" Elecmon scolded.

"Indeed, how could you just ask us to let fire to one of our own!?" Floramon snapped. "I agree that we would be killing a dangerous creature but they are also part of bringing life into the Digital World and what with the natural disasters and all, it needs all of the help you could get!"

Ethan winced at this. "All right! Sheesh, I am sorry!"

"I should hope so." Floramon said crossing her arms. "Be grateful that nobody else heard us."

"Great. Just what I need. A bunch of treehuggers after me." Ethan muttered.

"What was that?" Floramon asked quickly.

"Nothing!"

Hanako paused for a moment. She then giggled a bit. Floramon noticed this and gave a small smile. This was the first time she done anything like that ever since the attack from Greymon.

"Come, come, there is much more to see!" Floramon said running over to Hanako and grabbing by the hand dragging her along.

"W-Whoa... Calm down, Floramon!" Hanako said struggling to keep up. "I mean we got all day!"

The flower-like Digimon looked back. "I know but there is so much to see!"

However, Floramon was so eager of showing Hanako around that she didn't looked where she was going.

CRASH!

Floramon found herself falling backwards into a stunned Hanako's arms after collided with something. Her entire world was dazed as everyone stared with wide eyes.

"Hey, watch where you are going!"

Floramon groaned as she watched the blurry figure of whoever she crashed into. Soon when she came to her senses, she saw who she crashed into. It was kind of a strange male humanoid figure. His body was actually a sphere with arms and legs and he wore shades along with a pair of gloves and boots that matched. He also had some kind of fuse on his head.

"Oh!" Floramon said getting up. "I am so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!"

"Yeah, I say you didn't!" The humanoid spat adjusting his shades showing that he had a bottle in one hand.

"Please forgive me!" Floramon said bowing her head.

The humanoid paused for a moment. "Well, if you are really that sorry, then I know how you can make it up to me."

"Um, what?" Floramon asked raising her head.

Suddenly, the humanoid shoved the bottle in her hands.

"Hide this, will ya?" He said causing everyone to look in confusion.

"Um, all right." Floramon said examining the bottle. "What is it?"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, HEY!" The humanoid scolded. "YOU bumped into ME! You don't get to ask questions!"

Not giving anyone a chance to reply, he jogged away leaving everyone stunned.

"What was THAT all about?" Elecmon asked.

"Yeah, that guy looked like a mix between Pacman and a stereotypical biker!" Ethan noted.

Hanako looked at the bottle Floramon was currently holding. "What are you holding, Floramon?"

"Good question." The flower Digimon holding up the bottle to see that it was half-full with some kind of liquid.

"FREEZE, YOU BUMS!"

Everyone's eyes bugged out before turning their heads at the sound of the loud shout.

They all gaped when they saw a large plant-like monstrosity heading towards them. It was from kind of flower with a scary face on it and had thorny vines for a body with four of them being somewhat sentient with grinning faces on it. Said creature did not look pleased.

"Oh crap! Biollante and Audrey had a baby!" Ethan shrieked.

"Excuse me!?" The large plant shouted in a booming, feminine voice. "I don't know what you said but I definitely knew it was rude!"

She then turned her attention down over to Floramon. Said Rookie Digimon noticed this before wincing at the glare that was staring her down.

"You!" She spat pointing at Floramon.

"Me?" Floramon asked sheepishly.

"Where is he?" The plant Digimon demanded.

"Where is who?" Toyagumon asked tilting his head to the side.

"You know who I am talking about!" The plant Digimon said pointing one of her vines that had a mouth on it.

"Wait, you mean that Nanimon from earlier?" Floramon asked.

"Of course! It is obvious what is going on!" The plant Digimon said glaring down at the group. "You are covering for him!"

The others' eyes widened in shock and confusion at what they had just heard.

"What? Covering for what exactly?" Floramon exclaimed.

"That!" The plant Digimon said pointing to the bottle. "Bringing sake in this sanctuary and tainting its smell!"

Floramon's pupils shrank. "Sake!?"

"That's right! Don't act like you don't know!" The plant Digimon roared. "And to think, a Floramon, one of us would do such an act!"

"But we aren't acting, Miss!" Toyagumon insisted stepping forward.

"Yeah, that Nanimon just dumped it on us without a single word of what is going on!" Elecmon added also stepping forward.

"And why should I believe you?" The plant Digimon challenged.

"Because I think they are telling the truth!"

Everyone, even the giant plant paused stunned before looking in the direction of the voice. They then saw a Digimon flying over.

It was larger than the group but was definitely smaller than the giant plant. It was some kind of humanoid sunflower with a thorny tail. It was using the two giant leaves on its back to fly as it soared straight into the giant plant.

"Sunflowmon." The giant plant Digimon said raising a non-existent eyebrow.

"Please, Lady Blossomon! I genuinely believe that there are truly oblivious to the whole thing!" The sunflower humanoid explained.

"Oh?" Blossomon asked.

"Yes, this isn't the first time Nanimon tried to dump his sake on some unsuspecting person." Sunflowmon insisted. "Trust me. I would know that."

Blossomon paused for a moment. "Hmm, well, you ARE from the same city as Nanimon so I suppose that there is a chance that you may be right.

She then immediately glared back at the group making them jump.

"HOWEVER, I would like that bottle at once!" Blossomon demanded extending one of her mouthed vines towards Floramon.

"Y-Yes, ma'am..." Floramon said sheepishly placing the sake bottle into the mouth of the vine.

Blossomon nodded her head before retreated her vine back examining the sake bottle. She then turned her attention back down at the group.

"Well, THAT'S taken care of!" Blossomon said.

She then suddenly gave a pleasant smile.

"Please carry on with what you are doing!" She said.

The group stared with wide eyes as Blossomon turned around and slithered away as if nothing had happened.

"Um, what just happened?" Ethan asked flatly.

Sunflowmon shook her head before flying down to the group's level. "Please excuse, Blossomon. She is actually sweet and kind but when she gets upset, she tends to switch her mood in the snap of a finger."

"Yeah, I kinda noticed..." Elecmon said.

"Well, anyway..." Floramon said before giving a warm smile. "Thank you very much for saving us for a dreadful misunderstanding."

"No problem. Trust me. I know how it felt like." Sunflowmon reassured.

"Oh yeah. Blossomon said that you and Nanimon are apparently from the same city?" Floramon asked.

Sunflowmon nodded her head. However, it was with a less-than-happy expression on her face.

"Yeahhhhh..." She said slowly.

Floramon immediately crossed her arms grumpily. "What kind of Digimon breathes a bottle of alcohol in such a beautiful place like this?"

Sunflowmon shook her head. "Whatever kind Nanimon is."

"Wait. If you and Nanimon are from another city then that means you two are..." Paolo started.

"...Here for the flower show. Yes." Sunflowmon nodded.

Floramon immediately brightened up. "So it DIDN'T got cancelled!"

"Well, yes and no..." Sunflowmon frowned looking down. "I mean it is still going on but there are only a few first-place winners here due to all of the natural disasters."

Floramon's face fell as she looked down. "Oh, fair enough."

"But hey, cheer up!" Sunflowmon offered as she flew back up. "To make up for the lack of winners, we have a lot of runner-ups around here. We are trying to do the best we could. Care to see it?"

Floramon nodded her head. "Please and thank you, Sunflowmon."

"Glad to hear it, Floramon!" The flying Digimon smiled before going off with the group following her.

Ethan suddenly whispered to Elecmon. "Do ALL Sunflowmon have that stupid, simple face or is it just this particularly one?"

"Shh!"

/-/-/-/-/-/

It didn't took Sunflowmon too long to lead the group over to the main attraction of the greenhouse. In the middle of the large dome was a large area where the group was amazed at what they were seen.

There were a bunch of tables everywhere with a lot of plants on top of them. There were a wide array of flowers ranging from different sizes, shapes and colours. Hanako, Floramon and Toyagumon all looked around in awe at what they seen.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Floramon said in awe looking around.

"I'll say! There are so many different flowers here!" Toyagumon smiled.

"Well, of course!" Sunflowmon giggled. "We can't have a flower show without flowers, can we?"

"Thank you for leading us here." Floramon said bowing her head.

"No problem!" Sunflowmon smiled. "Well, later!"

The group had said their goodbyes to Floramon, the group looked around at all the flowers. Floramon and Toyagumon were easily the most excited.

"Isn't this wonderful, friends?" Floramon asked with sparkling eyes. "We are here at the flower show!"

"Yeah, there are a lot of flowers around here than I expect." Toyagumon noted.

Elecmon stared at the Lego dinosaur. "What was you expecting, kid?"

Floramon scanned around the place for a moment. However, her eyes then widened when they locked onto one particularly sight.

"Wait... Is that...?" Floramon asked softly getting the other's attentions.

"Hm? What is it, Floramon?" Elecmon asked.

"Come on, Hanako! There is something to show you!" Floramon said grabbing Hanako by the hand and running forward.

"H-Hey!" The Asian girl said rushing forward trying to keep up.

"Wow, Floramon sure is excited." Elecmon noted.

"Must be a flower thing." Ethan shrugged.

Soon, Floramon had dragged Hanako over to a certain part of the show. Soon, the Digimon had finally stopped allowing her partner to rush forward trying to keep her balance. Hanako gave Floramon a quick glare before looking around to find out what the fuss was about.

It was then her eyes bugged out as she looked at a potted flower garden on a table. Inside of it seemed by some kind of multi-coloured poppies sharing a stem with each other making a radiant-looking bouquet. There were at least six of them.

"What... What are these?" Floramon said in awe.

"They are rainbow poppies!" Floramon noted. "It is a type of plant that is extremely difficult to grow so it is very rare!"

Hanako stared completely mesmerized by the arrange of flowers that was sitting in front of her. She had never thought anything like that was possible here to have a bunch of multi-coloured flowers growing from one stem.

"Tell me, Hanako..." Floramon smiled. "What do you feel when you see these?"

"I feel... I feel jealous..." The dark-haired girl said softly.

Floramon's face fell in confusion when she heard this. "What...?"

Hanako let out a deep sigh as she held her arm before looking down at her partner Digimon.

"Floramon, can I... Tell you something?" Hanako said.

The flower Digimon immediately stood up straight. "Of course, Hanako!"

The teenaged girl paused for a moment trying to figure out what to say.

"It is true... I agree with Ethan and Paolo about what they said back in the inn." Hanako admitted.

Floramon stayed silent before letting out a deep sigh. "Oh, come now... You can't really say that Ruby and Candlemon are unworthy of Digivolution, are they?"

"Well, yes..." Hanako said simply. "I mean we haven't been here that long together but we certainly had been longer than Ruby and Candlemon. AND we had been together longer."

"Yes but..." Floramon started but Hanako merely continued.

"I have to ask. What did we do wrong? What DIDN'T we do? What did Ruby do that WE didn't?" Hanako questioned.

Floramon paused before looking down. "I admit that I do not know... But obviously it had to be SOMETHING they did..."

"But what? What exactly they did?" Hanako said looking at her hands. "Are... Are we just destined to fail? To never be able to take it to the next step?"

"Hanako..." Floramon said softly. Suddenly, she was cut off.

"Do you know what I think?"

Hanako and Floramon's eyes widened before turning their heads to see Nanimon walking over with his arms. Floramon immediately growled remembering what happened earlier.

"Nanimon..." Floramon said in spite.

"That's my name! Don't wear it out!" The humanoid said quickly.

"Um, what is it that you wanted to say?" Hanako asked.

"Easy. You are being a jealous brat." Nanimon said flatly.

Hanako's eyes bugged out when she heard this. "What!?"

"You heard me. You just can't take that there is someone in this world better than you, huh?"Nanimon asked.

Hanako gasped stepping back looking hurt by this. "E-E-Excuse me?"

"Now hold on there!" Floramon said stepping forward. "Who are you to act like you know exactly what you are talking about?"

"I know because I just so happened to eavesdrop on you guys!" Nanimon said flatly.

Floramon's eyes widened in disbelief. "And who are you to do so?"

Nanimon quickly ignored Floramon. "Anyway, you just can't handle having someone else better than you, kiddo."

"What? That is not true!" Hanako scolded.

"Oh, sure looks that way to me!" Nanimon said crossing his arms. "You just can't handle that someone is more hard-working and deserving than you!"

"Now see here!" Floramon said stepping forward. "Again, I like to point out that you have absolutely NO perspective of Hanako's story!"

"What is there to know? All I need to know is that she is upset that you two don't have the power to Digivolve further!" Nanimon said bluntly.

Hanako stepped back as if she was violently struck as her pupils to the size of peas upon hearing this.

"That's right! You didn't digivolve before this Ruby person because you DON'T have it in ya! End of story!" Nanimon spat.

Hanako stepped back with wide eyes upon hearing this. Was that really the reason why Candlemon Digivolved before Floramon. It was because she CAN'T Digivolve. Slowly, she looked down at her hands wondering what she had done wrong. They then started to shake violently as if there was blood all over her hands. It was then it happened.

Everything around her had completely gone black making her gasp. The flowers. The ground. The greenhouse. Even Floramon seemed to had vanished from her sight. She slowly raised her head up wondering what was going on.

It was then she saw a bunch of lights appear in front of her. Six of them to be exact and they seemed to be in pairs. They shined eerily in darkness with Hanako staring in worry. Soon, the pairs of lights became attached to a shadowy silhouette each turning into eyes that were glaring at Hanako.

The Asian girl shook in her spot as the three shadows stared her down. She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. All she could do was stay frozen unable to budge a single muscle.

She couldn't take it anymore.

It was then she snapped back to reality startling Floramon, Nanimon and anyone nearby. Immediately, she ran off darting past surprised people and rushing off straight out of the area and not looking back.

"HANAKO!" Floramon screamed rushing off after her partner.

Nanimon watched them leave while crossing his arms with a satisfied look on his face feeling proud unaware that everyone else was glaring at him. Ethan, Paolo, Elecmon and Toyagumon saw the whole thing and they were not happy.

"Hey, Pac-Hobo-Man!" Ethan snapped stomping forward with Elecmon by his side.

Nanimon's eyes widened behind his shades before turning around to see the pair coming over.

"Oh, it's YOU two!" Nanimon said narrowing his eyes. "Where's my sake?"

Ethan stopped walking for a moment. "Sake?"

"Yeah, the bottle I gave you!" Nanimon demanded.

Elecmon shook his head in annoyance. "Blossomon has it!"

Nanimon's eyes bugged out. "What!? You idiots were supposed to keep it safe!"

"And why should we go out of our way to hide forbidden alcohol for some stranger?" Paolo challenged as he and Toyagumon walked over.

"Great, what a bunch of useless teens." Nanimon spat.

"And what did you do to Hananko?" Toyagumon accused. "She never did anything bad to you!"

"Hey, she was being a jealous brat and I just couldn't help to show her how petty she was being!" Nanimon retorted with a shrug.

"Jealous brat?" Elecmon asked in confusion. "Over what?"

"Over not being able to Digivolve her Digimon before someone named Ruby." Nanimon replied.

Ethan, Elecmon and Paolo's eyes widened upon hearing this. They all then narrowed their eyes not liking the Digimon's accusation.

"And who are you to tell her not to be upset!?" Ethan snapped walking over. "And who are you to act like you know the full story!"

"I know enough to know that she is acting upset that Ruby's Digimon Digivolved before hers." Nanimon said. "She just can't handle people being blessed with better skills than her!"

Ethan's eyebrow started to twitch. "S-S-S-S-Skills!? That was not skills! That is dumb luck!"

"Oh? I am to assume that THIS is dumb luck?" Nanimon said motioning to the side of him showing the rainbow poppies.

"Hm? What about them?" Ethan asked.

"Ooh, rainbow poppies!" Toyagumon said stepping forward. "I heard about them but I had never them so close up before!"

"That's right! These babies are not that easy to grow! They take a lot of hard work!" Nanimon smirked. "I should know!"

Elecmon's eyes widened. "Wait. These are YOURS!?"

"Yep! Brought them all the way over here from home just to show them off here!" Nanimon grinned.

"Is THAT why you are here?" Elecmon asked his ears.

"That's right! In fact, you are looking at a blue-ribbon winner himself!" Nanimon said crossing his arms proudly.

The others saw in awe with slack jaws upon what they had heard. Nanimon not only didn't look like a gardener but his personality suggest that he didn't cared about nature at all.

"You see, I know what it is like to have haters and that is exactly what you guys are being to that Ruby person!" Nanimon said.

"Now stay where you are! Hanako... No, we had been here LONGER than Ruby!" Ethan snapped.

"Well, that's YOUR own fault!" Nanimon taunted.

"WHAT!?" Ethan roared at the top of his lungs. He then scowled before raising his fists. "Those are fighting words, buddy!"

"Want some, get some!" Nanimon said getting into a stance as well.

Paolo's eyes widened. "What are you doing!? He is a Digimon! A Champion-level one at that!"

"So? I could take him!" Ethan reassured.

"Now hold on! I hate this guy too but this is not the place to start a brawl!" Elecmon scolded. "You wanna anger that Blossomon lady?"

Ethan and Nanimon immediately paused with wide eyes before turning their heads to see Blossomon taking to a few humans and Digimon nearby. They immediately shuddered remembering how scary she got when she was angry. They then lowered their stances.

"Also, I am worried about Hanako..." Toyagumon piped up.

"Yeah, same here..." Elecmon noted.

"Floramon had gone after her. She shouldn't be alone." Paolo reassured.

"I guess..." Elecmon said with his ears dropping.

With that, the four walked off in hopes of finding Hanako though Ethan and Elecmon cast Nanimon one final glare before storming off. The Champion Digimon merely smirked as he crossed his arms in victory at what he had done.

Sunflowmon saw the whole thing and merely shook her head in disgust at what she had witnessed. Nanimon acted so proudly about making a young lady cry. Perhaps she should do something to help dear Hanako out.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Hanako ran further into the greenhouse completely ignoring the nearby shouts of her Digimon partner trying to get her to slow down. She didn't cared. She just wanted to get away from Nanimon as quickly as possible.

Brushing past several surprised people, she darted straight up a set of stairs before rushing over to a forest-like area with a lot of trees before rushing over and hiding behind one of them sitting down and covering her face with her knees.

She just couldn't accept the words that she had heard from Nanimon's mouth brutally scolding her about her. Hot tears started to form in her eyes quickly as she started to cry.

"I knew it..." Hanako said softly. "I knew it that this was a mistake."

However, it was then she heard the sound of rapid footsteps from behind the tree. She immediately realized who they belonged to.

"Hanako! Hanako, please answer me!" Floramon pleaded running into the area and looking around frantically.

The Asian girl stayed silent not wanting to deal with Floramon or anyone at the moment.

"Hanako, don't take that Neanderthal's words seriously!" Floramon called out in a desperate attempt to get her partner to show herself. "He clearly knows about us or Ruby & Candlemon to know the full story!"

The flower Digimon continued to look around frantically.

"Besides, remember that Digivolving takes a team effort!" Floramon called out. "It is not just the human who has put work into the progress. It is also the Digimon's job too!"

Floramon then looked down at the ground.

"Do you think that I am not upset that Candlemon Digivolved before me despite meeting Ruby only a few minutes?" Floramon asked. "Don't you realize how insulting it was!?"

It was then Hanako raised her head from her knees looking up in confusion. If that was the case, then why did Floramon tried to convince Hanako otherwise.

"You know pretty well that I want to Digivolve too! So to have a rookie do so before us when we were bonding together so well hurt so much!" Floramon called out. "We are supposed to be a team, Hanako! I am just as much to blame as you!"

The flower Digimon then hanged her head in defeat.

"Please... Not being able to Digivolve is one thing but to face the fact that it caused my partner to be upset is unheard of!" Floramon said before looking down in sadness. "I mean if I am unable to keep my partner happy, how good AM I as a Digimon at all?"

Hanako paused for a moment pondering over Floramon's words for a moment.

"Please, Hanako, come out!" Floramon begged. "I know that what happened made you lose your confidence but that doesn't mean that we are destined not to Digivolve!"

"I agree."

Floramon's eyes widened before turning her head to see Sunflowmon flying over.

"Sunflowmon!" Floramon said with wide eyes.

"Just because Candlemon Digivolved before you doesn't mean you are unable to do so at all." Sunflowmon reassured. "So had you found Hanako?"

"No..." Floramon said shaking her head. "Not yet."

"Oh, that is too bad." Sunflowmon frowned. "I was looking for BOTH of you because I wanted to ask you for a big favour."

"A favour?" Floramon asked.

"Yes, I couldn't help but overhear Nanimon's dressing down on Hanako and it made me realize that we are all the same." Sunflowmon said.

"All the same?" Floramon asked tilting her head in confusion.

"Yeah, we had gotten our chances to shine stolen by people who didn't put that much work into it!" Sunflowmon agreed.

"Wait, you too?" Floramon asked.

"Yes, remember when I said that runner-ups of neighbouring cities' flower shows have to come over to fill in for some of the winners that didn't wanted to risk getting hurt because of the natural disasters?" Sunflowmon asked. "Well, I was the runner-up."

"Really? If that is the case then who is the..." Floramon started.

Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock at what she had just realized.

"Wait... Don't tell me that boorish brute..." She said.

"...Is the winner." Sunflowmon said sighing in defeat. "I am afraid so..."

"But how? What does that horrible, insenitive man know ANYTHING about gardening?" Floramon exclaimed. "He drinks sake in this beautiful place for heaven's sake!"

"I know right?" Sunflowmon asked. "Which brings me to my idea for a favour."

"Uh-huh?" Floramon asked.

Sunflowmon then reached out behind her back. She then pulled out some kind of bottle with a strange brown liquid inside of it. Floramon looked on in confusion.

"What in the world is that?" Floramon asked.

"It is that strange soda that is popular around the junk Digimon." Sunflowmon explained. "I bought it off of a Numemon."

Floramon's eyes bugged out when she heard this. "Wait... But isn't that soda popular for junk Digimon because of how vile it was to literally everything else?"

"Yes, it is." Sunflowmon nodded her head. "It acts like poison to plants."

Floramon's pupils shrank. "You are not implying what I think you are, are you?"

Sunflowmon nodded her head once again. This time sporting a smirk.

"That's right. We are going to poison Nanimon's flowers." She said.

Floramon gasped in horror upon hearing this. "What!?"

"Yes, I am sick of seeing that boor rub his blue ribbon in the faces of more deserving people!" Sunflowmon said narrowing her eyes. "I want to sabotage his show!"

"But... That is horrible!" Floramon exclaimed.

"So? It was horrible for him to win before me! Call me jealous but anyone who knows me and Nanimon knows that I had worked THREE times the effort!" Sunflowmon insisted. "Now please, Floramon. Join me. I need somebody to act as a diversion to distract everyone while I will poison Nanimon's plants."

Floramon paused for a moment pondering about the choices she had in mind. It wasn't until long that she came with an answer.

However, someone had beaten her to it.

"No..."

Floramon and Sunflowmon's eyes widened to see Hanako walking around the tree she was hiding behind with a blank stare on her face.

"I will refuse..." Hanako said softly.

"What?" Sunflowmon asked flying back looking shocked.

Hanako narrowed her eyes. "This is wrong, Sunflowmon. If Nanimon did won that flower contest like you said, then he deserves it!"

"Excuse me?" Sunflowmon asked appalled. "Didn't you hear a single word of what I said?"

"I did and I think you are being very cruel to Nanimon." Hanako said stepping forward.

"Cruel?" Sunflowmon asked.

"Yes, Nanimon obviously pride himself on those flowers and as much as he is mean, that is no reason to take that away from him!" Hanako scolded. "How would you like that if someone had done that to you?"

"What!? That is different!" Sunflowmon snapped. "Besides, weren't you the same way to that Ruby girl?"

Hanako winced before looking down at her feet. Floramon looked at her in concern.

Suddenly, the Asian girl looked up in determination. "That... I don't know how Ruby managed to make Candlemon Digivolve before me and Floramon but just sitting around acting jealous isn't going to get us anywhere! I know that we will be able to get through this because Floramon and I are friends!"

"Hanako..." Floramon said softly.

"That is why I must ask you to stop what you are planning, Sunflowmon!" Hanako pleaded. "You said that you are the runner-up right? That is not something to be ashamed about!"

"Don't patronize me! This isn't about getting first place! This is about making sure hard workers don't get beaten by slackers!" Sunflowmon snapped. "And if you are not going to help me then stay out of my way!"

With that, she turned around and got ready to help off.

"Stemen Rope!"

Sunflowmon's eyes widened as she felt a set of vines wrapped around her leg. Turning around, she found that were attached to Floramon.

"I am sorry but we can't let you do that." Floramon said sternly.

"Stay back, Floramon." Sunflowmon said coldly.

"No, I am not going to let you ruin Nanimon and his work." Floramon said.

"Fine. Suit yourself. Smiley Slap!" Sunflowmon yelled.

With that, she suddenly smiled brightly before using her free hand to smack Floramon's vines off of her before flying off into the thick of the trees with Hanako and Floramon staring with wide eyes.

"We have to stop Sunflowmon!" Hanako called out.

"I know but how!" Floramon asked. "We can't keep up with a higher-level flying Champion!"

Hanako paused for a moment putting her hand on her heart. "We have to try. We aren't just doing this for Nanimon..."

Floramon turned her head towards Hanako. "Hanako?"

"Sunflowmon... Is just like me..." The Asian girl said. "So that is why I feel compelled to save her from doing something that may come back to hurt her..."

"Hanako..." Floramon said softly.

She was about to say something else until it happened. Hanako's wrist had started to glow startling both girls. Hanako looked down in awe looking down to see that her Digivice was actually flashing with two familiar lines on top of it.

"Hey, is this...?" Hanako asked in awe.

"Yes, yes it is!" Floramon said quickly. "Hurry, while we still can."

Hanako narrowed her eyes. "Right!"

With that, she started to turn the long hand on her Digivice in a clockwise direction similar to how Ruby did.

"Quicken the sands of time! Enter the age of the Champion!"

It was then Floramon was engulfed in a bright light as well. Hanako looked in amazement knowing how was about to happen.

"Floramon Digivolve to..."

Soon, Floramon started to grow. However, Hanako quickly noticed that her Digimon's growth was no way as large as Meramon but larger than her.

When the light cleared, it showed Floramon's next form. It was a large brown kiwi with some kind of helmet over her head and beak showing a pair of eyes and had leaves spouting out of the back of it.

"...Kiwimon!"

Hanako stared with wide eyes upon the new evolution of her Digimon. This was actually the doing of the both of them.

"Behold... I have bloomed!" Kiwimon announced proudly. "Hanako, come on! There is no time to bask in the moment!"

"Huh?" The Asian girl said before shaking her head back into reality. "Let's go!"

Kiwimon then crouched down allowing Hanako to run over and climb onto her back sitting down and wrapping her arms around her partner's neck.

"All right! Let's hurry!" Kiwimon said rushing forward in the thick darkness of the trees with Hanako hanging on for dear life. The latter still couldn't believe what was happening. She was actually riding on top of her Digimon partner in Champion. However, this was far from the best time to think about it.

Meanwhile, Sunflowmon flew down a slope while inside of the trees. All it took was for her to sneak back into the flower show without anyone noticing and she could apply the poison to Nanimon's poppies. As much as she hated to admit it but if Hanako and Floramon blew the whistle on her than she had no choice but to play innocent.

"Pummel Peck!"

Sunflowmon's eyes widened before turning around. Once she did, something collided with her face resulting in a small explosion. Sunflowmon fell down and crashed onto her back still holding the bottle in her hand. She groaned before looking up. Her eyes widened when she saw a Kiwimon with Hanako riding on it making her way down the slope.

"You Digivolved?" Sunflowmon exclaimed.

"Yes, I did." Kiwimon said calmly. "And I must ask you again to stop what you are doing."

Sunflowmon got over her shock and narrowed her eyes. "If I said no to when you had the privilege to give me your opinion, what makes you think my answer would be different if you had lost it?"

"Huh? Lost the privilege to give our opinion?" Hanako asked in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"It means since I had Digivolved, there is no reason to hold malice against Ruby and Candlemon for Digivolving before us." Kiwimon said narrowing her eyes.

"That's right. Now that you are Kiwimon, you have no right complaining about those people going to the next stage before you!" Sunflowmon spat.

"Sunflowmon, please don't do this!" Hanako pleaded. "What if you get caught? Then, people would look past your flowers!"

"I won't!" The flower Digimon spat. "I had planned too much into this to just be found out!"

Hanako sighed as she shook her head. "Kiwimon, do you think you could fight her?"

"I can and I will!" Kiwimon said as Hanako jumped off of her. "Just stand back and be careful."

"You too." Hanako said softly.

Sunflowmon shook her head before placing the bottle down on the ground so it wouldn't break during the fight.

"I don't want to resort to this..." Sunflowmon said.

"Me neither but it is clear that our goals force us to do otherwise..." Kiwimon said softly with the two sharing a dead silent with each other.

It was then Sunflowmon made the first move flying straight towards Kiwimon. However, the bird Digimon was quickly rushing to the side to avoid a punch. Sunflowmon tried to make up for her mistake by swinging her thorny tail behind her.

She had managed to strike Kiwimon hard sending the bird sprawling across the ground hard. Despite the hard fall, Kiwimon sprang back to her feet looking ready for more darting forward.

"Pummel Peck!" Kiwimon shouted shooting a missile out of her mouth forward that was shaped just like her. Sunflowmon casually swatted it down sending it flying to the ground resulting in another explosion.

Sunflowmon then flew towards Kiwimon head-first but then the brown-feathered bird leapt over her opponent allowing her to fly past. Hanako looked in awe as her partner's speed. Now only was she able to keep up with a flying Digimon but she also seemed very nimble.

Sunflowmon thrusted her thorny tail forward only for Kiwimon to leapt to the side. Growling angrily, she continued the assault but Kiwimon kept jumping back avoiding the blows. Soon, Sunflowmon spun around swinging her tail but Kiwimon leapt up high before giving her opponent a hard kick to the face making the large flower-like Digimon grunt in pain.

"Smiley Slap!" Sunflowmon shouted with a smile striking Kiwimon sending the flightless bird crashing into a tree.

"Kiwimon!" Hanako gasped as she watched her Digimon fall onto the ground. "Please get up! You have to win!"

"Don't worry... I will..." Kiwimon said getting up to her feet and rushing towards Sunflowmon. However, she leapt at a tree kicking off of it making her way towards the giant flower.

"Nose Mattock!" Kiwimon shouted thrusting her beak forward catching Sunflowmon in the middle of her forehead. The larger Digimon cried out in pain before falling onto her back hard.

"Pummel Peck!" Kiwimon yelled while she was still falling down sending another small Kiwimon missile into her chest. Sunflowmon winced before swinging her tail striking Kiwimon away. However, the bird Digimon flipped herself backwards landing on the ground gracefully.

Hanako on the other hand held her hands together in hope. All she could do was cheer on Kiwimon so she could defeat Sunflowmon and stop her from doing a horrible mistake. Just like she almost did.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Ethan & Elecmon met up with Paolo & Toyagumon in front of a barrier that was keeping people out of a large forest area. Hopefully they had gotten answers about where Hanako had gone.

"Well?" Elecmon asked.

Toyagumon frowned shaking his head. "No, not only have we didn't found Hanako but we haven't found Floramon as well."

Elecmon returned the gesture. "This was a mistake. We should had ran with Floramon when we saw Hanako bolted."

"Probably but again like I stated, Floramon should be with her." Paolo explained.

"True but still it couldn't help to hear of some kind of sign on where they are..." Elecmon muttered.

BOOM!

The four along with anyone else standing nearby jumped when they had heard a sudden explosion. They all looked towards the direction of the noise.

"What the!?" Ethan said.

"What was that!?"

Everyone's eyes widened before turning their heads to see Blossomon charging over angrily.

"Oh crap! It is old lady Blossomon!" Ethan cringed.

The large Digimon grunted in anger when she heard this. "You again!? Did you had something to do with this?"

Ethan jumped as he walked backwards holding his hands in front of his face. "What? No, no, no! I was here when the explosion happened! Just ask anyone!"

BOOM!

Everyone turned their heads towards the large amount of trees standing to the side of them. Blossomon on the other hand narrowed her eyes.

"Whoever is in there, come out and show yourself!" She roared as she made her way forward with the others wisely darting out of her way. She then sent her mouthed vines into the forest.

"POLLINOSIS SHOWER!"

/-/-/-/-/-/

Kiwimon and Sunflowmon's eyes widened in horror upon hearing the loud shout immediately stopping their fight. Hanako on the other hand turned her head in confusion.

"Huh? What is going on?" Hanako asked.

"Oh no..." Kiwimon said softly.

It was then they could make out in the thickness of the trees was a large pollen cloud that was heading over to her way. The three girls stepped back in shock.

"Run! If that pollen touches us, we will be found out!" Kiwimon shouted.

Sunflowmon didn't needed to think twice as she flew off. Meanwhile, Kiwimon had darted over to Hanako crouching down allowing her partner to climb on. The dark-haired girl was about to oblige until she noticed something.

Her eyes widened when she saw that Sunflowmon had left behind the bottle of soda. She immediately gasped realizing that she couldn't just leave it there.

"Kiwimon, the soda!" Hanako shouted pointing to the bottle on the ground.

"Oh no!" The bird gasped. "Pummel Peck!"

With that, she shot another missile at the incoming cloud of pollen. It exploded hitting the ground somehow making it fly back much to Hanako's surprise.

"I'll try to blow it back!" Kiwimon shouted. "You get the bottle!"

Hanako nodded her head before rushing over as Kiwimon launched more of her Pummel Pecks trying not to hurt her friend in the progress managing to keep the pollen back. It fortunately didn't Hanako that long to get to the bottle.

Unfortunately, Blossomon had noticed that her pollen was being reflected back and narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, so you wish to play that game, fine!" Blossomon scoffed as the others standing behind her looked on.

Hanako smiled picking up the bottle before rushing back at her partner continued to blow away the pollen. It seems that she was in the clear.

However, Kiwimon froze when she saw that Blossomon's mouthed vines making their way through the trees. With one of them heading towards Hanako.

"HANAKO, LOOK OUT!" Kiwimon yelled at the top of her lungs.

The Asian girl looked back to take the split second to look in horror at the mouthed vine that was about to bite at her with its sharp teeth.

"Sunshine Beam!"

It was then a large beam of energy came out of nowhere and struck the vines that was about to grab Hanako. The young girl yelped falling onto her rear stunned by what had just happened. She quickly turned around wondering what had just happened.

She then saw Sunflowmon soared towards her and wrapping her arms around Hanako startling the human before flying backwards going out of the way of the mouthed vine recovering to snap back.

"Hanako, do you have the bottle!?" Sunflowmon shouted.

"Y-Yes." The dark-haired youth said shakily.

"Good! Hold onto it tightly!" Sunflowmon yelled before turning around.

She then flew off as fast as she could with the vines coming after her back over to where she had came down. As she did so, she passed Kiwimon who didn't needed to take a hint and turned around rushing after Sunflowmon escaping the incoming mouthed vines coming after them. They had managed to escape the clutches of Blossomon.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Kiwimon and Sunflowmon made their way through the trees as fast as they could. Even though they had guessed that they had escaped Blossomon, they didn't wanted to take any chances and ran through the trees as quickly as they could.

Soon, they had made their way out of part of the forest where there was no barrier surrounding it. Thankfully, they were also no people around to notice meaning they could all pant heavily pleased that they were all out of harm's way.

Sunflowmon looked down at Hanako putting her down while still panting. "What are YOU panting about? Kiwimon and I did most of the retreating!"

"True but Hanako was the one who nearly got caught..." Kiwimon retorted.

The three continued panting until they had all stopped before they all stared at each other sharing an awkward silence.

However, Hanako spoke up. "Um, thank you for saving me..."

Sunflowmon let out a deep sigh. "No, it is my own fault for forgetting the bottle there in the first place..."

Hanako paused for a bit before speaking. "So, Sunflowmon... Now what?"

Sunflowmon slowly narrowed her eyes. "What? Do you think that I am just going to take Nanimon's success lying down?"

Kiwimon then stepped forward. "So does Nanimon hires people to grow his flowers for him?"

"Huh?" Sunflowmon asked raising her head in confusion.

"Does Nanimon have other people do his dirty work?" Kiwimon asked.

Sunflowmon paused before looking down. "Well, no."

"So does he cheats in some kind of special formula or something similar?" Kiwimon asked again.

"N-No... But..." Sunflowmon started.

"But what?" Kiwimon asked. "If he didn't do it by chance, then why did he grow those poppies?"

Sunflowmon gave a small growl. "He did it by his own hand..."

"So what is the problem?" Kiwimon asked.

Sunflowmon jerked up her head in surprise. "Didn't I tell you what my problem was!?"

"Surely there are some hidden depths inside of Nanimon that you couldn't see." Kiwimon said.

"Besides, why are you punishing him just for being better than you?" Hanako asked stepping forward.

"It is not like that!" Sunflowmon snapped. "I had worked harder than him so I believe I deserve more respect!"

Hanako shook her head. "Sunflowmon, it does hurt to be outshined by someone else after working so hard. However, that doesn't mean that you are not special yourself. I mean you wouldn't even be here if that wasn't the case..."

The giant flower-like Digimon then looked down. "But... But if I allow myself to get beaten by someone like Nanimon, does it really matter?"

"It does matter!" Hanako said before putting her hand on her chest. "Your case especially matters to me!"

"Same here! Though you may keep up the argument that we had lost our privilege to say otherwise..." Kiwimon said softly.

Sunflowmon stared quiet for a minute before looking down in thought.

"Listen, just because someone had gotten better than you over the years doesn't mean that you can't shine." Hanako reassured. "In fact, it was most likely my conviction to stop you was what made Floramon Digivolve."

Kiwimon nodded her head. "Besides, why did you enter the flowers in the first place?"

Sunflowmon continued to look down. "So that everyone could see them. But... After I saw Nanimon beat me, I kinda forget that..."

"I see..." Kiwimon paused. "So what are you going to do now?"

Sunflowmon continued to take interest in the ground thinking about what she had been told for a moment.

"I... Had let my jealousy get the better of me and nearly hurt not only Nanimon but also me as well..." Sunflowmon said sadly.

"So you are NOT going through with sabotaging Nanimon's flowers?" Hanako asked.

"I'll do better that that." Sunflowmon said. "I had been at odds with Nanimon ever since he had won that flower contest saying that he shouldn't had won. That was mostly why he had been so cruel to you, Hanako."

The dark-haired girl's eyes widened when she heard this.

"I... I see... Well, I guess that there is only one thing to do..." Hanako noted.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Nanimon rested his elbow against his table as he watched a few people speak with each other. He raised a covered eyebrow at the amout of activity that was happening recently.

"Yo!" He shouted calling out to them getting their attention. "What is going on?"

"There are apparently vandals inside of the greenhouse." A young girl explained.

"Vandals?" Nanimon asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, Blossomon is trying to flush them out." A small Digimon agreed.

Nanimon paused as the group went back to their conversation confusion at what he had been told.

"Who in the Digital World vandalises THIS place when you got BLOSSOMON as its guardian?" Nanimon said.

"Um... Nanimon?"

The round Digimon pauses before looking around. His face immediately curled up with disdain as he looked up to see Sunflowmon, Hanako and a De-Digivolved Floramon.

"Oh, great. It is you, Sunflowmon." Nanimon muttered. "And I see you bring a little army."

"He is still as brutish as earlier..." Floramon said underneath her breath so that Nanimon couldn't hear him.

"Nanimon, I... I had came to realize that I haven't been treating you right recently..." Sunflowmon admitted.

The shaded man stepped back stunned by this.

"Wha-what?" Nanimon asked not expecting this.

"Yes, I had been very mean to you ever since you found the contest." Sunflowmon said looking down. "Saying things like you didn't deserve it and probably hurt her feelings..."

Nanimon paused looking shocked by Sunflowmon's words. He then looked to the side.

"Whoa... I never expected you to say that..." Nanimon said scratching the side of his head. "I mean you were always quite the uptight one when it comes to flowers so you probably couldn't take it that somebody who is... Well, the opposite of you won."

Sunflowmon immediately raised her head up glaring at him. "I just love that you pretty much admit that you are not serious about this and yet you still..."

"Sunflowmon..." Hanako frowned before stopping her from making mistaking.

"R-Right. I am sorry..." The plant-like Digimon said before gulping nervously. "What I am trying to say is that..."

She then bowed her head towards Nanimon.

"I am sorry!"

Nanimon watched in stunned silence as Sunflowmon continued to bow at them. Hanako and Floramon looked on wondering how the shaded man was going to react.

"Forget about it..."

Sunflowmon raised her head in surprise upon hearing Nanimon's words.

"R-Really?" She asked stunned.

"Yeah, I'll forgive ya." Nanimon explained. "Though I admit that it is for my own selfish reasons."

"W-What?" Floramon asked in confusion.

Nanimon shook his head before looking at his rainbow poppies. "Ever since people had found out that these flowers belong to me, they kept looking at me as if I am lying. Like I bullied a Rookie Grass Digimon to do my own dirty look. They kept looking down at me."

He then gave a deep sigh.

"That is why I forgave you. Because you are willing to make it up to me and stop harassing me." Nanimon said looking down. "I am... I am just so sick of it..."

Hanako paused before walking forward. "Is that why you were so hard on me? Because you empathize with Ruby and Candlemon?"

Nanimon slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, I did. Hearing you complain about their Digivolving before reminded of myself."

Hanako paused for a moment. "We WERE more than a little cold towards them..."

"In any case, Hanako and Floramon was actually the ones who told me that I was wrong..." Sunflowmon added.

"Really?" Nanimon asked before looking at Hanako.

"That's right..." The dark-haired girl said softly. "Though Floramon also helped me realize that..."

Nanimon paused for a moment. He then grinned. "Looks like I am wrong about ya. Maybe you guys would be able to Digivolve, after all."

"Huh?" Hanako asked looking up.

"You can't grow flowers out of hate. You have to add a patient with them." Nanimon reassured. "It is just like Digivolving. You can't just make it because you want it too... You have to let it grow naturally"

Floramon's eyes lit up. "That is a wonderful metaphor. I can plainly say that you are truly the owner of these lovely flowers."

"Ah, thank you." Nanimon said looking to the side with a small smile. "Though it is more from experience."

Sunflowmon paused for a moment. "I am just glad that we had managed to make peace..."

"Yeah, same here." Nanimon said softly.

Sunflowmon returned the smile as Hanako and Floramon looked on happily pleased that they were able to stop a large incident.

"Hey, there they are! Hanako! Floramon! Over here!"

The four turned their heads to see Ethan, Paolo, Elecmon and Toyagumon heading over.

"Guys..." Hanako said softly.

Floramon looked up at Hanako. "I think it is clear what we have to do next."

The young girl nodded her head. "Right..."

/-/-/-/-/-/

"What!?"

When the group had finally left the greenhouse, Hanako and Floramon had told them everything that had happened. They wanted to tell them sooner but they didn't wanted someone to overhear and tell Blossomon. Needless to say, they were stunned.

"So let me guess this straight. Not only did you Digivolved and by toe-to-toe with Sunflowmon, you also went against an ULTIMATE Digimon?" Elecmon exclaimed.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say go against her." Floramon said sheepishly looking down. "More like narrowly escaped..."

"I still can't get over that it was YOU guys in there." Elecmon said.

"Though it makes sense considering the situation." Toyagumon agreed.

Ethan on the other scoffed before looking to the side. Hanako quickly noticed this and realized why the Australian had such a reaction.

"Anyway, I think we should go apologize to Ruby and Candlemon." Hanako explained.

Ethan stared at Hanako with wide eyes. "Say what!?"

"There is no point in getting mad at them. Did they deserve to Digivolve despite being total rookies. Maybe. Maybe not." Hanako said. "However, the point is that Elecmon and Toyagumon ARE going to Digivolve eventually."

"Agreed. Take me as Kiwimon as an example." Floramon nodded.

Ethan and Paolo paused for a moment before looking at each other taking Hanako's advice to their minds for a moment.

"Well... I still think they don't deserve it... But it is like you said. Elecmon is going to Digivolve anyway..." Ethan said scratching the back of his head. "So there is no point to complain about it."

Elecmon looked up at his partner with a glare. "The reasoning behind your apology is heartwarming."

"I agree. We haven't been very professional to Ruby and Candlemon." Paolo said stepping forward. "Especially since Ruby already got other problems to worry about..."

With that, the humans paused looking away. The Digimon looked on sadly realizing why they were acting like this.

Suddenly, Hanako shook her head bringing her head back to reality. "Look, I am just as upset as you guys but we have to stick together! We are a team and Ruby and Jafaru are complete newcomers! We need to help them get through!"

"Yeah... It is clear that those two don't know the first thing about the Digital World." Ethan admitted.

"Indeed... It is up to us to make it up to them." Paolo said.

"Glad to hear it. Now let's go back to the hotel room and apologize. With any luck, Candlemon should had returned for us to apologize to her!" Hanako smiled.

"Yeah, so let's go!" Toyagumon smiled.

Hanako nodded before walking on ahead brightly.

"Looks like she is back to her cheery self again." Elecmon noted with a smile.

"Yeah, I like her better this way." Toyagumon agreed. "Say, Floramon?"

"Yes, Toyagumon?" The flower Digimon said.

"Maybe after the humans apologize, could you and Candlemon tell me what it is like to Digivolve?" Toyagumon asked.

"Of course! It was quite the exhilarating rush!" Floramon explained.

"Well, don't skip on any details!" Elecmon said as the Digimon walked off leaving Ethan and Paolo slowly following.

"It is like they aren't even jealous." Ethan noted.

"Yes, it seems that they are even better than us." Paolo added.

Meanwhile, Hanako continued to walk on ahead happily.

_"This time, I WILL make a name for myself here. On my own terms."_


	4. Dark Lies Behind The Bright Flash

Candlemon hopped down the street while grumbling angrily. She was still upset by the cold reception of the humans in her group and that they had said to her.

"Stupid humans... What is their problem, anyway?" Candlemon muttered.

She then let out a deep sigh. Whatever problem the humans had with her, she could always come and find out but for now, she just wanted to be away from them for a while. She then made her past a building

However as she did so, she had failed to notice that someone was rushing their way out of the building.

BUMP.

Candlemon found herself falling onto her (or at least the closest thing that she had to a rear). She groaned rubbing her head as the person she bumped into glared at him.

"Hey, watch where you are going, bub!"

Candlemon raised her head angrily. "What!? YOU bumped into ME!"

It was then she realized that she bumped into a Gazimon. However, she quickly noticed that the Gazimon was a particular one. Both of them stared at each other in disbelief before shouting out the same thing in unison.

"Not YOU again!"

"Why are you always stalking us!?" Gazimon said angrily.

"YOU always stalking US!? Weren't you with Ruby and Agumon in an isolated vacant lot?" Candlemon challenged.

"Hey, way to be grateful for saving your worthless partner's hide!" Gazimon roared.

Before Candlemon could continue the insult war, the Scottish teen had made his way around the corner wandering around the corner.

"Wait, are you that Candlemon who belonged to that farm girl?" The Scottish youth said raising an eyebrow. "Why are we constantly running into each other? Are you stalking me?"

Gazimon's face immediately brightened up as he looked up. "That is what I said, boss! Looks like great minds thinks alike!"

Candlemon grunted in annoyance. "Whatever, I had in with jerks for one day and it is not even noon yet!"

With that, she got up and hopped off not giving either of them a single glance. Gazimon on the other hand smirked in success that they made Candlemon walk away.

However, Gazimon's smirk had suddenly vanished from his face as his ears drooped down. He stared at Candlemon with a sorrowful look on his face for some reason.

"Ahem."

Gazimon immediately snapped out of his daze before looking up at the Scottish youth.

"Don't you have somewhere to lead me?" He said impatiently.

"Oh, right! Sorry, boss!" Gazimon said leaping up to his feet and walking off. The Scottish youth merely rolled his eyes before following him.

As Gazimon had walked on ahead, he looked back at his partner with turning his head. Even now, he couldn't believe his luck with the Scottish lad. He was partnered with a cool rebel. He remembered that day when they had first met.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Gazimon narrowed his eyes as he stepped forward before standing up while glaring up. He was in front of a large marble statue. It was of a white-armoured knight with robotic heads for heads with different weapons attached to it. The left one that was pointing up the sky revealed a long sword while the right one which stayed by his side revealed an arm cannon.

Without saying a single word, he raised his hand upwards the statue. At first, nothing happened for five long seconds.

Then, it happened. The sword on the statue had started to emit a bright light. Gazimon's eyes widened grew larger until it had engulfed him temporary blinding him though somehow not hurting his eyes. When the light dimmed down, Gazimon looked down at his hand still in shock. There was a small light inside of it before fading him.

"Hey, have you seen that?"

"Yeah, he got the blessing of Omnimon!"

"Ooh, this makes it even harder for us to get it..."

Gazimon turned around to see a large line of Rookie Digimon standing between of a rope barrier talking among himself of what had happened. Gallantmon and Beelzemon both stood in front of opposite sides of an entrance of a long corridor leaving into a temple.

"Congratulations, little one. You are going to have a partner." Gallantmon said in an encouraging tone.

Gazimon paused for a moment. He then gave a cocky smirk. "Heh! Like there is any surprise! I knew sooner or later I would get a partner. The question is when."

He then casually walked into the corridor with one hand on his hip with Gallantmon and Beelzemon watching him enter.

"Huh, he is probably the only Digimon in... EVER to not be jumping around in excitement." Gallantmon noted.

"Yeah, I am just as surprised as you." Beelzemon mused before shrugging. "Then again, I shouldn't complain because it gets old real fast."

"Really? It has the opposite effect on me." Gallantmon noted.

Beelzemon rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

Meanwhile, Gazimon continued to walk down the corridor in his swagger. However, it slowly faltered as he broke into a slight jog. Then, his eyes had lit up as he had gotten a big grin on his face while speeding up.

"I got the blessing!" Gazimon said trying his best not to shout out loud. "I got the blessing!"

Soon, he had managed to reach the edge of the corridor where the portal that was leading to the human world. He excitedly skidded to a stop in front of it. Taking in deep breaths to calm himself down.

"All right, one for the money. Two for the show. Three to get ready..." Gazimon said crouching down.

He then rushed straight towards the portal.

"And away we go!"

Then, the portal started to open engulfing Gazimon in a bright light. A couple of seconds later, it faded away and Gazimon had vanished from the corridor altogether.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Gazimon continued to keep his excited grin as he flew forward in a white abyss with black blurs zooming towards him. While the journey was nothing like he ever been through before, there was only one thing that was on his mind.

"I am going to get a partner! I am going to get a partner!"

Soon, he found himself heading towards a bright light. Closing his eyes, he braced himself for impact.

After a moment, he found himself landing on his feet forcing him stagger forward before collapsing on one knee. Slowly raising his head, he looked around. He was in a large room. It looked nothing different from any other back at home. There was a desk, a large wardrobe, two doors and two beds. Gazimon scanned around for a moment.

"All right, he doesn't seem to be in his room..." Gazimon mused. He then grinned. "Eh. No matter. I'll just go outside and see if I could find him. Shouldn't be too hard."

With that, he skipped over to a door and turned the knob on it before opening it.

However, his grin immediately vanished when he found out that he was inside of a hallway that was full of doors. He slowly looked back and forth at the area. Was he inside of a mansion or something?

"Okay, this isn't too bad." Gazimon said chuckling nervously. "I just have to find him..."

He then shrugged and started to look around the hallway walking off and closing the door behind him.

However, he found himself wandering aimlessly around the building trying to find somebody. He searched down hallways and made his down a lot of stairs but he still couldn't find that many people.

Slumping his head and arms in defeat and disappointment, he made his way down into what seemed like a lobby.

"Aw, man! What kind of mansion is this, anyway?" Gazimon asked in annoyance. "I haven't seen a single person in here!"

Shaking his head, he made his way over to a door. Reaching up, he turned the knob on it and pulled down opening it and letting himself in.

Or letting himself out. Gazimon's eyes widened when he found out that he had gone outside. Looking up at the sky, he found that it was pitch black. It was night time.

"Well, no wonder I couldn't find anyone..." Gazimon muttered.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Gazimon's eyes widened before turning his head to see teenaged boys with smoking cigarettes in their hands staring at the Digimon.

"What is a kid doing here?" The first one asked in a Scottish accent.

"And wearing such a tacky outfit like that." The second one noted having a similar accent.

Gazimon immediately got offended by this. "Hey! Who are you calling a kid?"

"Heh, the lad here got a bit of spunk in him." The third one chuckled having the same accent as the others.

"A bit TOO much spunk for MY taste." The first one said narrowing his eyes. "Kid, I don't know why you are here or you are wearing that thing, you better get out of my sight because you are annoying me!"

Gazimon narrowed his eyes. "Oh and you guys are that much better!"

The second one's eyebrow twitched. "Kid, don't make us do something that we will regret."

"Forget about it, he is just a shrimp." The third one said waving it off. "What is he going to do? Flail his arms at us?"

Gazimon's eyebrow twitched. "Oh, that's it! It is on!"

The first one growled before getting up. "I'll say that you better not go home crying but you are really getting on my last nerves!"

With that, he and Gazimon glared at each other and getting into stances getting ready to attack.

"Tsk. Pathetic. How hot-headed could you get to give into insults from a child?"

Everyone's eyes widened before turning their heads. They then turned their heads to see a certain blood red-haired young man with a scar over his purple eye.

"Oh, crap! It's Angus!" The second one winced. "Let's beat it!"

"Hey, beat it, lad! This is none of ya business!" The first one snapped.

"When an idiot is going out of his way to beat up a helpless child, then it is my business." Angus spat.

Gazimon's eyes widened looking insulted. "Who are you calling, helpless?"

"Stop making things more difficult for yourself, kid." Angus scolded before turning to the other teenagers. "And as for you jokers, I think we all know what happened the last time and the next before that so why repeat history."

The first one's eyebrow twitched finally having enough. He then rushed over while wildly throwing a punch out of rage.

However, Angus easily stepped to the side and kneed the violent man in the gut before slamming his elbow into his back knocking him to the ground.

"Tsk. That was literally I had done the last two times." Angus spat. "Do us all a favour and save us from some repetitiveness."

The first one groaned before taking turns between glaring at Angus and Gazimon.

"Bah, forget it!" He said slowly getting up. "This is not worth my time! Come on, boys!"

The other two nodded before throwing down their cigarettes on the ground. The three then went back into through the doors but not before casting Gazimon a nasty glare. The Digimon stared at the trio before glaring at Angus.

"Hey, hot-head! I didn't need your help!" Gazimon spat.

Angus merely crossed his arms. "You are an eight-year-old brat in a Halloween costume going off against a bulky delinquent. If you can't see how you would be at a disadvantage, then you need more help than I thought."

Gazimon's eyebrow started to twitch. "What was that?"

"Listen, kid. Whoever you are visiting, I suggest you go back inside and find them, only delinquents hang out here." Angus said.

Gazimon growled. "Stop treating me like I am a little kid! I am stronger than I look!"

"Yeah, right." Angus said rolling his eyes. "Stop watching kung-fu movies, kid! They are clearly rotting your brain!"

That was the last straw for Gazimon. Letting out a roar of fury, he rushed at Angus in a blind rage and pounced at him punching his fist out. Angus' eyes widened in shock but acted quickly and easily caught the attack.

It was then it happened. At that moment, a bright light had suddenly appeared in the forced grip of Angus and Gazimon's hands startling the two. The two slowly took their hands from each other to notice a small glowing object. The glow slowly dimmed down to reveal that it was a Digivice with a black case.

Angus looked on at the Digivice in confusion while Gazimon's pupils shrank in pure horror. This was his partner. The human who Omnimon had blessed him with him and what did you do? He yelled at him and tried to punch him when he had come to his rescue.

Gazimon was actually fighting to hold back tears from blaming himself for making a bad first impression on his partner. Soon, Angus had finally raised his head from looking at the Digivice to stare down at the Digimon as if asking for an answer.

Gazimon froze in his place. Suddenly, he collapsed on his knee bowing his head much to the shock of Angus.

"I am so sorry for my disrespect, boss." Gazimon said.

Angus blinked twice wondering what in the world was going on.

/-/-/-/-/-/

After that awkward introduction, Gazimon had realized that his partner was everything that he was hoping for. Cool. Tough. Doesn't let anyone push him around. Everything that he wanted to be when he Digivolved. It had to be fate.

That was why he was upset when he saw Candlemon. Having your Digimon partner outshined by a rookie must had been hurtful for Angus' pride. It sure was hurtful for his pride. Gazimon needed to Digivolve soon and fast or else Angus would lose his patience with him.

"Gazimon?"

The Digimon winced before snapping back to reality. "Yes, boss?"

"I am getting sick and tired and walking around the city." Angus complained. "Why are you going to find a place to stay?"

Gazimon again winced before stopping and turning around. "I am sorry, boss but due to how many humans are stuck here, they are forced to share a room with somebody."

"Ugh, so basically I am going to be forced to share a bed with somebody." Angus said holding his head.

"I know. We are far too good to be sharing a room with somebody else." Gazimon sighed.

"So what happens if we DON'T find a place to stay, hm?" Angus challenged.

Gazimon paused before looking down. He then raised his head before looking up with a sheepish grin.

"Wanna go camping?"

Angus blinked twice for a moment. He then groaned before slapping his forehead. He was about to admit defeat to Gazimon's idea. It was then a large Digimon walked on all fours making his way past Angus accidentally bumping into him and sending him falling down onto a surprised Gazimon with a crash. Said large Digimon with shocked at what had happened.

Both Angus and Gazimon groaned sitting up as they both glared at who had knocked down the former in the first place. It was a chameleon with green armor on the front of his body along with goggles. He also had a large camera around his neck.

"Hey, watch where you are going!" Angus snapped.

"Yeah, who do you think you are, king of the road!" Gazimon added just as angry.

"S-Sorry but I am in a hurry. Please forgive me." The chameleon apologized before walking off.

"Yeah, that's right! You better run off!" Gazimon said getting up and pointing his finger forward. "Seriously, man, what is his problem?"

"His problem is everything that doesn't help him, that's what." Angus muttered casting the chameleon a dark glare.

Gazimon then put his hands on his hips and started to laugh out loud much to Angus' surprise.

"Ah ha ha ha! His problem is everything that doesn't help him! That's a good one, boss!" Gazimon snarled. "You are the king of zingers!"

Angus paused. "You have no idea what I meant by that, do you?"

"Nope." Gazimon said quickly.

Angus let out a deep groan as he held his head.

Meanwhile, the chameleon had continued to make his way down the street while passing several people and nearly bumping into them just like Angus. This caused him to get several glares with the occasional angry shout by aside from shouting out a few apologies, he continued to make his way to his destination.

Soon, he made his way over to an old-looking building. It still looked stable but it had clearly seen better days. He rushed through the door and made his way a staircase. Soon, he had made his way over to a door. He then knocked on the door.

"Chameleonmon, that's you?" A voice said from behind the door.

"Yeah, boss. Can I come in?" The chameleon replied.

"Yes, you can."

The chameleon nodded his head to enter the room. It was quite small but had a lot of it. It had a desk and a chair along with a file cabinet and a water cooler. Sitting at the desk was a large white-feathered chicken with big tail feathers.

Also inside of the room were two Digimon. The first one was a red winged devil with a black trident and strange marks all over his body. The second one was the size of a Rookie-level Digimon as he was some kind of chrome and blue armored seahorse with a megaphone for a nose and mouth.

"Oh, crud! Am I THAT late?" Chameleonmon asked not liking where this was going.

"No, the others had just returned themselves." The chicken reassured. "Now that you guys are here. So let's review what you guys had been told. Boogeymon, you are first! How did the eye of the sky go?"

The devil Digimon jumped a bit but nodded his head before getting out a notepad and reading it.

"Well, Gallantmon and Beelzemon are still investigating the problem with the portal leading to the human world." Boogeymon read. "So far, they couldn't find any problems with it. They assume that whatever caused the portal to close was related to the natural disasters in some way and they are trying to link together how."

The chicken paused as if urging Boogeymon to continue. "And?"

Boogeymon gulped nervously. "And what, boss?"

"You know what I mean!" The chicken said raising his voice. "Don't tell me that is all you got on the matter!"

Boogeymon shifted his eyes from left to right before giving a sheepish smile. "All right, I WON'T tell you."

POW!

The other two Digimon jumped as the chicken got up and quickly punched his fist into Boogeymon's face sending the devil flying backwards until he hit the wall hard before sliding off looking dazed.

"You had failed!" The chicken snapped. "Next, eye of the water, Seahomon, your go!"

The seahorse Digimon jumped before gulping nervously. "Well, apparently one of the citizens was going around stealing Digivices just so Digimon with unnatural Digivolution couldn't Digivolve and he even attacked a bunch of children and their Digimon resorting to be a mugger."

"And?" The chicken asked crossing his arms with a twitching eyebrow.

"And... The Candlemon of the group had Digivolved?" Seahomon asked sheepishly.

The chicken then grabbed the small Digimon by the head and throwing him like a football forward straight into the wall. Boogeymon who was still rubbing his head winced as Chameleonmon immediately started to shake in his feet realizing that he was last.

"Rejected!" The chicken roared before turning to Chameleonmon. "Eye of the shadows! You better give me results or else!"

The reptile gulped nervously before speaking. "Um, well, I..."

"Quit sputtering and speak!" The chicken roared.

"Thereisaflowershowtoday!" Chameleonmon said quickly.

The chicken immediately froze in his spot. Chameleonmon, Boogeymon and Seahomon paused wondering how their boss was going to react.

Suddenly, the chicken had started to chuckle. Soon, the chuckling had slowly turned loud laughter. The others looked on as if he was crazy.

"You mean the flower show at the local greenhouse?" The chicken asked between the laughs.

"Y-Yes?" Chameleonmon asked.

"And that it would be carrying a bunch of different flowers from all around the world." The chicken said still laughing.

"Y-Yeah, that is correct and I got information on all different types of flowers." Chameleonmon said before starting to laugh himself.

The two then continued laughing with each other with their voices echoing throughout the room. Boogeymon and Seahomon looked at each other in confusion.

Suddenly, the chicken had slowly stopped laughing. "You know, I had gotten the perfect headline for it!"

"Really? What is it?" Chameleonmon asked trying his best to stop laughing.

The chicken then narrowed his red eyes with them turning a glowing green.

"FROZEN FIRE SHOT!"

The chicken then shot a pair of green beams from his eyes striking Chameleonmon. The lizard cried out in pain before flying back crashing into Boogeymon and Seahomon resulting in a loud crash.

Chameleonmon groaned. "Why does he always used his special attack on ME?"

"Because you are the heaviest." Boogeymon wheezed with the lizard's tail pinning him down. "Down get off!"

"No, no, NO!" The chicken roared leaping onto their feet. "People had been rival reporters who had probably know all about this stuff by now and was currently looking into it! Don't you remember what is our goal!?"

The three Digimon paused before looking at each other in confusion as they got up.

"Um, to get news that nobody had expected to come out?" Chameleonmon asked.

"EXACTLY! These things you had are the same as everyone else!" The chicken roared. "That is not what put us apart from other papers!"

"Sorry, boss but what can we do?" Seahumon asked. "The other reporters were all over it! What should we do?"

The chicken slapped his forehead. "Oh for the love of... For the last time, when in doubt, tweak it!"

"But how?" Boogeymon asked.

The chicken groaned. "How do I get stuck with you bozos? Okay, let's have an example. Boogeymon?"

The devil yelped. "Um, yes, boss?"

"Was there anything Gallantmon and Beelzemon had said about what COULD had happened to the portal instead of nothing?" The chicken asked.

Boogeymon blinked twice before looking over his notepad. "Well, actually... Yes, quite a few actually."

"Anddddd?" The chicken asked.

"Well, Beelzemon think that a group of Digimon who need human partners found some way to sabotage the portal just so that the humans could stay with them... Forever." Boogeymon noted.

"Perfect! Yandere Group Crushes Portal To Crush Hugs Partners!" The chicken said snapping his fingers somehow. He then paused. "Though that may be too long and even if it doesn't, it doesn't roll off the tongue very well that much."

Chameleonmon looked up. "Wait, boss! Boogeymon said that Beelzemon THOUGHT that. In other words, he may be wrong..."

The chicken merely waved it off. "Eh, serves him right for saying random ideas like that. Now go, go! You still got plenty of daylight yet! Find some... suspects!"

"Well, I got one." Seahomon piped up.

"Oh?" The chicken said raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, apparently she had actually shoved her own partner into the computer forcing her here and stole her Digivice so that she could stay with her in the Digital World." Seahomon explained.

"Good, we have a scapeg..." The chicken said walking back and forth. "Um, I mean suspect. We got a story though there is still room to find more suspects understand..."

"But boss, what if that they AREN'T responsible for the main portal?" Chameleonmon asked.

The chicken glared at his employee. "Don't be so naïve, Chameleonmon, I mean think about it. Would the police like their prime suspect of a crime walk around doing whatever he wants?"

"Um, no..." The lizard said looking to the side.

"Then, there you go. Problem averted." The chicken said crossing his arms.

The three Digimon then looked at each other not looking that sure about their boss' plans.

"Um, boys?" The chicken asked.

The Digimon turned to their boss to see his eyes glowing green.

"What are you idiots waiting around for!?" He roared.

The trio yelped before getting up and scrambling out of the door while tripping over himself. The chicken rolled his eyes with a groan. Good help was truly hard to get these days.

/-/-/-/-/-/

After a fruitless effort of trying to find a hotel, Angus and Gazimon had no choice but to buy a tent with a couple of sleeping bags camped out on the outskirts of the city. Angus was upset that it had to come to this.

Nonetheless, sleeping out was not as bad as it seemed. He only had to share the tent with Gazimon which was better than sharing with a bunch of strangers. He actually found himself waking feeling more satisfied than he initially thought.

Looking down to his side, he noticed Gazimon looking like he was just waking up himself.

"Ah, top of the morning, boss!" Gazimon said brightly. "Had a good night sleep!"

"I had finally managed to sleep alone but I can't complain." Angus muttered shrugging his shoulders.

"Heh, I slept like a baby!" Gazimon laughed putting his hands behind his back.

"I guess. We could at least take out sleeping off of our list of problems." Angus said.

Gazimon's smile vanished. "Huh? What do you mean, boss?"

Angus looked to the side. "We still need to worry about stuff like food and bathing. I mean I got enough money to last a few days but sooner or later, we would run out..."

"Oh yeah... By then, we have to scrape for Digibits just to get by..." Gazimon muttered with his ears drooping.

Angus nodded sitting up. "It doesn't get better when you look about it. We can't just camp out like this. We would both be sitting ducks. We have to find a place to stay..."

Gazimon paused. "So are you saying that you want to continue looking?"

"Might as well. This IS a big city, isn't it?" Angus asked.

Gazimon stayed silent for a moment. He then gave a big grin before clenching his fists in determination.

"Don't worry, boss! No matter what happens, I will always be my side!" He reassured. "I am your partner and any problems life throws at you would have to get through ME!"

Angus stayed silent for a moment. He then looked away with a scoff. Gazimon's happy expression quickly faded once again at Angus' reply. It was just as he feared, his own partner was looking down at him after what happened with Greymon.

"Whatever, I am hungry." Angus muttered getting his coat and putting it on. "Listen, do you know any place where we could eat?."

"Um, right..." Gazimon muttered. "I know that there is a diner that is cheap yet has good pancakes."

"Good. Anything to fill me up without spending too much money." Angus nodded.

Gazimon returned the nod though he half-heartedly still hurting by Angus' cold reception. He had to prove that he was worthy enough to be his partner but how.

/-/-/-/-/-/

It didn't took the duo that much to reach the place Gazimon was referring to. After entering, they didn't need to take that long to choose their orders. They both sat patiently at a table as the waitress went to create their orders.

Angus and Gazimon both sat silently at their seats waiting patiently for their meals. Neither of them weren't in the mood for conversation. Though it was more that Gazimon still was thinking of how he could impress Angus somehow.

As the two sat at a table, they could overhear a lot of conversations. While they were getting a bit annoyed by how loud they were doing, they tried to ignore it for the most part. Suddenly, they had heard the doors opening up but chose to ignore until they heard a familiar voice.

"Pancake time!"

Angus and Gazimon's eyes widened before turning their heads. Coming through the restuarant was a familiar set of people. Particularly the ones that they were with when they fought against Greymon.

"Oh, you have to be kidding me." Angus muttered cursing his luck.

Gazimon on the other hand cast Candlemon a dark look before scoffing and looking away not wanted to be reminded about a rookie Digivolved before him."

"Just ignore them, boss." Gazimon spat. "Maybe if we are lucky, they won't even notice us."

"Good idea." Angus said rolling his eyes.

Meanwhile, the group had made their way over to a set of tables thankfully far away from Angus and Gazimon.

"Wow, Jafaru, I am pleasantly surprised that you had actually gone with our offer to eat with us." Hanako smiled.

"I only did it because I didn't wanted those two scary lady monsters glaring at me." The dark-skinned teenager muttered.

"Yeah, tell me about it. They had been snarking off to everyone ever since all day long yesterday." Candlemon said rolling her eyes.

As the group had continued their conversation shortly from insulting the two women at the inn to what kind of pancakes they liked, they quickly caught the attention of everyone else.

"Whoa, there is a Candlemon in that group." A young man noted managing to catch the others' attention.

"Yeah and if you notice, they have an Elecmon, a Betamon, A Floramon and a Toyagumon with them." A small Digimon nodded. "All that is left is a Gazimon."

Said Gazimon winced before slinking down in his seat.

"So that means it was the Candlemon who had actually Digivolved on her first day and managed to beat up that Greymon." A young woman nodded.

Candlemon smirked as she rubbed her knuckles against her side feeling proud that what she had done become common talk.

"Hard to believe that she is a possibly vandal."

It was then the main group froze with wide eyes upon hearing this. Naturally, Candlemon was the most shock by the sudden event.

"What!?" Candlemon said getting up from her seat.

The gossip people yelped when they saw Candlemon glaring their way before looking away trying to stay quiet.

"Don't even try to pretend you aren't saying anything! We could hear your chit-chat from all of the way over here!" Candlemon yelled.

"Yeah, seriously..." Angus muttered.

"Um, nothing, nothing!" A young man lied.

"Yeah, totally!" Another Digimon added quickly nodding his head.

Candlemon growled not buying their lies for a moment. For whatever reason, they thought that she was a vandal and she wanted to get to the bottom of why. She was about to continue badgering them.

Suddenly, the doors opened up forcibly. Most of the people turned to see Angewomon making her way to the door. Judging by the scowl on her face, she was not looking that pleased.

"Oh no..." Jafaru groaned sinking into his seat.

"What is SHE doing here?" Ethan asked narrowing his eyes.

Angewomon then made her way over to Candlemon. "Ah, I had managed to catch to you and your little buddies. I have something to give to you."

The candle Digimon narrowed her eyes. "What?"

Angewomon didn't replied. She merely got out a slip of paper and shoved it in Candlemon's face startling her.

"Huh? What's this?" Candlemon asked.

"Your bill for what causing us to hold out rooms for free to a bunch of freeloaders because you broke the portal." Angewomon said quickly.

Everyone's eyes widened when they heard the words from the so-called angel.

"What!?" Candlemon exclaimed.

"You heard me! You might be the reason why the portal is closed so now you have to pay the consequences." Angewomon spat.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA! First of all, where do you get off accusing me of that!" Candlemon snapped.

"Easy." Angewomon said reaching down at a nearby table and grabbing a newspaper with the patrons at said table glaring at them. The blonde humanoid then shoved the front of the paper in front of Candlemon's face. The Rookie Digimon paused before reading it. Her eyes widened when she saw the title.

"Yandere Group Crushes Portal To Crush Hugs Partners!?"

"That's right! You are currently the first of many prime suspects in vandalizing the portal and causing all of this trouble!" Angewomon nodded.

Candlemon continued to stare slack-jawed at the newspaper with her arms slumped. She was the only one as the others glanced on not believing what they were hearing.

"Therefore, you along with the other prime suspects now have two choices." Angewomon said. "You could either pay up for the free rooms we had to give up or work it off."

Candlemon's jaw dropped not believing her non-existent ears. "You gotta be kidding me! There is no way I can't pay that much money!"

"Well, you should had thought about that before you broke the portal." Angewomon scoffed. "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time!"

Candlemon growled. "I didn't do it!"

Angewomon put her hands on her hips. "Oh? That is not what Beelzemon thinks."

Candlemon's eyes widened. "What? BEELZEMON said about me!"

"That is what this newspaper said." Angewomon said throwing the newspaper down. Despite being startled, Candlemon quickly caught it. "So are you going to continue feigning innocence or do I have to drag you into an apron!"

Candlemon again growled. "Again, I didn't do it! Do I seem like I would do something like that?"

Ruby looked to the side. "I want to say something but..."

"Also, I am just a Rookie-level Digimon. And judging by this list of "suspects", all of them are on the same level as me!" Candlemon added. "How could a bunch of Rookies break a portal?"

"I don't know. You tell me. You are the evil mastermind." Angewomon said crossing her arms.

Candlemon's jaw dropped. "Evil... Mastermi..."

She then let out a loud roar startling everyone before hopping off towards the exit.

"Candlemon!" Hanako called out holding out her hand.

"That's it! I am going to find Beelzemon and get some answers out of him!" Candlemon growled. "I had completely lost my appetite!"

Angewomon cupped her hands to her mouth. "Just don't think about trying to go AWOL, terrorist!"

"Shut up!" Candlemon roared before hopping out of the diner.

Angewomon on the other hand gave a smug smirk before walking after Candlemon to exit the area oblivious to the cold glares she was getting.

Paolo merely shook his head. "I think we should go after Candlemon. She may say or do something that may make things worse."

"Yeah, seriously." Ruby said rolling her eyes.

With that, the group had got up and walked off (though Jafaru was slow doing so) after Candlemon trying to catch up with her. Angus and Gazimon had watched the whole thing with wide eyes.

"Well, THAT was interesting..." Gazimon said blinking twice.

However, he didn't get a reply. Not even a single scoff of disinterest. Raising an eyebrow, he turned his head to see Angus still staring out of the door. He looked like he was trapped in some kind of trance.

Gazimon's ears drooped. "Um, boss?"

Angus continued to stay in his trance. However, he narrowed his eyes before anyone.

"Hey, anyone know what the name of the newspaper that Candlemon had?" Angus called out.

"It is called the Candour Times!" A young man called out.

"Candour, huh?" Angus asked rolling his eyes. "How paper-thin."

Gazimon tilted his head in confusion. "What is, boss?"

"Nothing. At least for now, anyway." Angus muttered as he watched the Digimon waitress return with a stack of panckes. "But not now, we need all of the energy we got muster."

"Um, all right." Gazimon said grabbing a fork though truth be told it would only make him more anxious as to what Angus was getting at.

/-/-/-/-/-/

After Angus and Gazimon had finished their meals and paid for it, Angus wasted no time rushing out of the diner with Gazimon running after him. Angus then suddenly asked where was the best library. While still confused, Gazimon agreed to show him where it was. Though Gazimon was still confused.

After a few minutes of walking, Gazimon had led a large building in front of a large series of steps. There were a couple of statues of beetles on each side and on the front of the door was a symbol in form of a pair of glasses.

"This is the place, boss." Gazimon said.

"All right." Angus said making his way up the steps. Gazimon yelped before rushing off after him. After the two made their way up the steps, Angus slowly walked over to the door and opened it.

The inside looked like any other library as there were large shelves of books everywhere. Both of them looking around for a moment in awe at the size.

Then, Angus noticed someone at a desk. It was a small winged insect-like Digimon clad in dark red armor with a bit of armor on them. It was wearing a book. Angus then made his way over with Gazimon following.

Angus coughed to clear his throat. "Um, excuse me?"

The insect Digimon looked up before speaking in a feminine voice. "Yes, may I help you?"

"Yes, could you direct me to the newspapers archives?" Angus asked earning a strange glance from Gazimon.

"Of course." The insect Digimon said before pointing to the side. "It is at the very end of that aisle."

"Thank you." Angus nodded before walking off. Gazimon blinked twice before walking off after his partner.

After a bit of walking, the two had finally reached the end of the aisle where they were standing in front of a large newspaper archive.

"Now let's see... The Seaside Independent, The Retro Metro..." Angus said looking around. "Ah, here it is. The Candour Times."

With that, he took out a large box from a shelf and rested it on the ground. When he started to look through the newspaper, it was then Gazimon had finally decided that he couldn't keep quiet anymore.

"Boss, what ARE you doing?" Gazimon asked.

"Just doing a little research on the people who had printed the paper that pretty much marked Candlemon as a prime suspect." Angus noted.

"Hm?" Gazimon asked crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side.

Angus shook his head. "Never mind. Just be quiet and let me look."

Gazimon at first wanted to decline but chose against it as Angus continued to look. The Scottish teenager had looked through for the box reading as many newspapers articles as he could. He narrowed his eyes looking determined for some reason.

Angus had actually spent the next hour looking through the newspaper box the entire time. Gazimon naturally got bored as ended up sleeping against a bookshelf. Even Angus himself started to look quite a bit weary.

However, he then gave a weak nod before putting the newspaper he had back into his box.

"That is everything I need." He said.

With that, he lifted the box of newspapers up and put it back onto the shelf. He then turned around to see Gazimon who was now fast asleep. Angus rolled his eyes before making his way over to wake the Digimon up.

"Yo, wake up." Angus said shaking Gazimon awake.

"H-Huh, what?" Gazimon asked rubbing his heads.

"We are leaving." Angus commanded.

Gazimon let out a large sigh of relief. "Finally! So have you found what you were looking for?"

"Yes. I do." Angus said narrowed his eyes. "Gazimon, let's go Gallantmon and Beelzemon."

/-/-/-/-/-/

"What!? You think that the Candour Times are borderline slander!?" Gazimon gasped as he and Angus walked down the street with hands in their pockets.

"I don't think so. I KNOW so." Angus said sternly. "The evidence is all there in the newspapers. Most if not all of their articles borderlines on people's theories."

Gazimon raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So said "theories" are really those guys twisting people's words and making a mountain out of a molehill!" Angus explained. "They are twisting the truth because the actual one is too "generic"."

Gazimon's eyes lit up. "Whoa, so THAT is why you had spent a whole hour reading those newspapers."

"That's right." Angus nodded his head. "We are going to see if we could use this evidence to shut them down."

Gazimon raised an eyebrow. "Um, and why are you going out of your way to shutting these guys down?"

Angus growled. "Let's just say I hate reporters. Bunch of vultures."

Gazimon tilted his head. It seemed that Angus had some kind of personal vendetta against reporters for some reason. He wondered what happened between his partner and one.

Suddenly, his eyes widened in realization. If Angus had such a dislike for reporters, that means he would loved to see them beat down. Which means he would respect anyone who would beat up those punks. Gazimon looked up at Angus who was still walking. Like always, he doesn't seemed to be looking back.

Then, Gazimon stopped walking. Just like he expected, Angus continued walking without noticing that his partner had stopped. Normally, something like that would hurt him but this time he was actually hoping for it. Narrowing his eyes, he turned around and ran off in another direction with Angus still oblivious to Gazimon rushing over.

As Angus continued walking, he noticed a similar sight. The group that he saw earlier making their way down the street looking upset. Candlemon naturally looked the most angry.

"Okay, this is getting silly." Angus said shaking his head. He then let out a deep sigh. "Well, might as well get some information."

Making his way towards the group with his hands in his pocket, he had called out to them.

"Yo." He said getting their attention.

Candlemon immediately groaned in contempt. "Oh great, what do YOU want, blood-head? I am in a bad mood."

Angus narrowed his eyes. "Hey, I wouldn't be talking to you guys unless I had a reason."

Most of the group growled at a cold response. Betamon on the other hand looked around in confusion.

"Hey, had you forgotten your partner again?" Betamon asked.

"What the hell is THAT supposed to mean?" Angus asked raising a confused eyebrow. "Gazimon is right..."

He then turned around. His eyes then widened when he saw that Gazimon was nowhere in sight. He looked around frantically.

"What the?" Angus asked. "He was right behind a couple of minutes ago!"

"Maybe he stopped for something and you didn't check on him to see if he stopped." Betamon suggested.

"That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest." Elecmon said narrowing his eyes.

"But... It literally been a short time." Angus said still looking around. "We haven't had that much distance between each other."

"Hmm, I wonder about that." Paolo noted putting his hand on his hip.

Angus looked down at Paolo a bit offended. "And what is THAT supposed to be mean?"

"Well, you had been really mean to your partner. I mean you have been very bossy trying to get him to Digivolve." Hanako explained. "And you literally walked off without him. TWICE."

"Hey, he clearly holds a lot of respect for you but you did NOTHING to return the favor." Elecmon scolded. "It is not any wonder that he ditched you out of spite."

Angus let out a scoff. "I work alone."

Hanako's eyes widened. "Is THAT why you have been treating Gazimon poorly? Because you just didn't wanted to share your company with someone else?"

"Exactly." Angus nodded. "The only reason I let the little fuzzball follow me is because I obviously can't fight giant monsters by myself. At least he would be able to help me out with that. That is if he freaking Digivolves."

Everyone but Jafaru stared at Angus with complete and utter disgust when he had just said about Gazimon. The fact that he had admitted so casually was especially despicable.

"How could you say that!?" Hanako scolded. "Gazimon had been treating like a grand leader and you kept throwing him off!"

"Yeah, news flash, mate!" Ethan growled motioning to the Digimon. "These little guys have FEELINGS!"

"Yes, if you continue to isolate yourself away from Gazimon like that, he may do something drastic." Paolo agreed.

Angus put his hands on his hips unimpressed. "Oh, really? And tell me, little man, what do you think Gazimon would do to..."

It was then his eyes widened in pure horror. The others looked confused and/or concerned by this. Before anyone could ask what was wrong, Angus let out two words escape his mouth.

"He wouldn't..."

/-/-/-/-/-/

Gazimon had practically sprinted to his destination with a glint of determination in his eyes. This was his chance to prove himself to his partner that he was worthy of being destined together.

After a bit of running, he skidded to a stop looking up at a building. It was where the Candour Times were being held. After taking in a bit of time to get his breath back, he stood up straight with narrowed eyes.

"This is it, Gazimon. Time to show everyone what you could do." He said to himself.

With that, he coolly marched into the building putting his hand to his hip in case he came against anyone and wanted to look like a tough guy. After making his way up a long case of stairs, he had finally reached a door. Thinking that somebody may be inside, he knocked on it. At first, there was a pause but then somebody answered him.

"Come in."

Gazimon smirked before opening the door to see the chicken sitting at his desk looking surprised to see someone other than his workers.

"Oh and how may I help you?" The chicken asked raising an eyebrow.

Gazimon smirked before leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. "So are you the big chicken behind this whole operation?"

"Yes, yes I am." The chicken said not liking the Rookie's attitude. "And you are?"

Gazimon merely wagged his finger. "I am a Gazimon, of course and I am your worst nightmare."

The chicken narrowed his eyes. "And I am a Kokatorimon and I will slap you silly if you don't tell me what is going on."

"Heh. Don't act like you know. I know your game." Gazimon smirked.

"Oh?" Kokatorimon asked crossing his arms.

"Yeah, a little bird told me that he believes that all of your articles are borderline slander." Gazimon said. "He says that you take people words and twist them around."

Kokatorimon merely glared coldly. "Those are some mighty big accusations."

"Oh, so am I wrong?" Gazimon asked.

Kokatorimon paused. "Now let's say for the sake of argument, you are correct. What are you going to do about it."

Gazimon narrowed his eyes. "Then I am going to give you two choices. 1. You shut down your newspaper permanently or 2. I'll shut it down myself."

Kokatorimon blinked twice for a moment. Suddenly, he let out a loud obnoxious laugh. Gazimon growled at this.

"Kid, are you serious?" Kokatorimon laughed.

"Of course I am serious!" Gazimon said angrily. "I am here to stop your slander once and for all!"

Kokatorimon then slowly stopped laughing though he let out a few snickers.

"Kiddo, I don't know if you know this but I am a Champion while you are a Rookie." He pointed out.

"Yeah, so?" Gazimon asked narrowing his eyes. "I am not a weakling."

"Riiiiight." Kokatorimon said resting his beak on his hands. "Listen, kid. Aside from the fact, I would kick your butt to the next city, I have the power of media on my side. No matter what happened here, I WILL make you look like a mad man breaking in an attack an innocent man."

"I just LOVE how you pretty much stop denying my accusations." Gazimon said narrowing his eyes.

Kokatorimon let out a laugh before getting up from his seat and cracking his feathery knuckles.

"Kid, get ready for a heap of pain." He said darkly.

Gazimon growled before getting into a stance. The two Digimon then glared at each other for a moment waiting for the other person to make a move.

Then, Gazimon had enough and made rushed towards Kokatorimon slashing his claw out. However, Kokatorimon used his wing to block the attack. The giant chicken then kicked his foot out catching Gazimon in the stomach. The Rookie fell onto his back before quickly got up and rushed over ready for more.

Kokatorimon punched his fist forward but Gazimon had managed to slid forward not only ducking underneath the attack and slashed his claw at Kokatorimon's leg. The larger Digimon cried out in pain hopping up and down on one foot. Gazimon smirked as he rushed over to the other leg and sank his teeth into it.

"YYYYYOOOOOWWWWW!" Kokatorimon yelled crying out in pain falling down on his back hard. Gazimon then rushed over to the table and climbed onto it before leaping onto it just like a wrestler doing a headbutt into Kokatorimon's stomach.

As the Champion's beak opened up with his eyes bugging out, Gazimon gave a smug smirk. He was actually winning. All he had to do was keep it up.

"Paralyze Breath!" Gazimon yelled shouting out purple gas out of his mouth striking Kokatorimon. The chicken yelled in pain. However, he then scowled and swung his wing at Gazimon. The rabbit-like Digimon was hit and flew backwards flying straight into a wall hard sliding off of it allowing Kokatorimon to get up.

"Frozen Fire Shot!" Kokatorimon shouted with his eyes turning green and shooting out a green beam of light forward. Gazimon snapped out of his daze in time and yelped before scampering off to the side narrowly avoiding the attack.

"Hold still and let me hit ya! Frozen Fire Shot!" Kokatorimon demanded shooting his attack again. However, Gazimon was too quick and dodged the attack again before rushing over and slashing at his larger foe.

"Feather Sword!" Kokatorimon shouted swinging his wing downwards at Gazimon's claw. However, the former's attack was stronger as he found himself being forced down onto the ground. Gazimon tried to get up before Kokatorimon kicked him back down.

Kokatorimon let out a deep laugh. "Face it, kiddo. You are out of my league!"

Gazimon growled before glaring up. "Like heck I am! I will never give up!"

He then paused slowly getting up.

"I have to earn his respect..."

/-/-/-/-/-/

Angus had rushed as fast as he could towards the building where the Candour Times was at. Behind him was the others struggling to keep up with him. Even though they didn't knew what was going on, most of them realized something bad was happening and dragged the others (particularly Ruby and Jafaru) with them.

Soon, they all made it in front of the building panting heavily.

"Is this the place?" Angus asked between pants.

"Y-Yes. This is where the Candour Times is being held." Floramon said.

"Good." Angus said rushing forward into the entrance.

"Hey, wait up!" Hanako called out running after Angus. "You don't have to go alo..."

"Stemen Rope!"

It was then Hanako felt a bunch of vines around her arm. Turning her head, she saw Floramon using her attack on her own partner.

"Floramon, what are you doing?" Hanako asked struggling to break free. "Let me go!"

"Sorry, Hanako but I cannot do that." Floramon said shaking her head. "If we follow that lad inside, the staff in there may think we are with him and have us arrested for trespassing."

"B-But..." The Asian girl said before looking up at the building. She silently hoped the best for Angus and Gazimon.

Meanwhile, Angus rushed up the stairs with only one thing on his mind. Stopping Gazimon from doing something stupid. He didn't have any time to stop as he continued onwards. Why? Why did Gazimon had to go far just to impress him?

Suddenly, he had heard a loud crash followed by several cries of pain. Angus' eyes widened immediately fearing the worst as he rushed over. Then, he saw a grey blur flew out of the room and crashed into the stairs that was continuing on upstairs. The blur revealed to be a battered and bruised Gazimon gritting his teeth in pain.

"Gazimon!" Angus gasped.

The rabbit-like Digimon stared up in surprise. "Boss!?"

Before Angus could see anything else, he saw Kokatorimon stomping over to the downed Rookie. Angus' eyes widened before narrowing them rushing over putting his arms out in front of him in an attempt to protect Gazimon.

"All right, back off!" Angus demanded startling the Champion.

Kokatorimon narrowed his eyes. "And who the heck are you?"

"I guess you can say that I am his partner." Angus said coolly.

Gazimon paused for a moment.

"Um, who are you?"

Angus' eyes widened when he heard this before turning around towards Gazimon who was getting up narrowing his eyes.

"I had never seen you before in my life." He said crossing his arms. "Where did this talk of being my partner come?"

Angus blinked twice looking absolutely shocked. Gazimon wouldn't stop acting like a fan-boy around him and now it was like the two of them were absolute strangers. Did that last attack to Kokatorimon literally gave him amnesia?

Kokatorimon on the other hand raised a confused eyebrow while putting his hand to his beak.

He then gave an evil smirk.

"Frozen Fire Shot!"

Angus and Gazimon's eyes widened before turning their heads to see Kokatorimon turning his eyes green and staring at Angus.

"Boss, look out!"

That was the cry of Gazimon rushing over to Angus and shoving him out of the attack's way allowing himself to get hurt instead. Angus landed on the side hard. He groaned before raising his hand up.

It was then his eyes widened in shock and horror at what he had seen. Standing in front of him was Gazimon. However, he was completely turned into stone where he was literally a statue. He stood in his place completely frozen in his place. Angus sat on the ground completely horrified at Gazimon being like this.

Then, he heard cruel laughter. Turning his head, he saw Kokatorimon actually laughing at what had happened.

"Boss, look out!" Kokatorimon said with laughs. "I knew that little pukestain was lying."

If Angus' pupils had shrunk to the fullest already, they had now. He had just realized why Gazimon had pretended that he didn't knew him. He didn't wanted Angus want to be responsible for Gazimon attacking the boss of this building.

It was then he slowly narrowed his eyes. Letting out a roar of fury, he rushed over to Kokatorimon and did a punch to the chicken's chest as hard as he could. Unfortunately, Kokatorimon merely grunted in annoyance as he swung his wing at Angus knocking the Scottish youth.

Despite wincing in pain, Angus snarled at Kokatorimon. "You dirty coward! You attacked me just to call Gazimon's bluff!"

Kokatorimon let out a mirthless laugh. "You caught me, "boss". But now that I know that you are this scamp's partner, I am going to say that the both of you attacked me!"

Angus' eyes widened in fury as he slowly got up. "What!? But you attacked ME first!"

"Yeah but that wouldn't had happened if your little buddy haven't attacked first!" Kokatorimon laughed with a shrug. "Remember, I am the one with the pencil. Whatever I put down, people would instantly eat up like candy!"

Angus growled before wrapping his arms around the small statue of Gazimon tightly as Kokatorimon continued to laugh. He then whispered into his ear.

"This is all your fault, you know..." He said in hatred.

He then sadly looked at the ground.

"But I haven't been so distant, you probably would had never been this stupid... I'm... Sorry..." He said softly.

Suddenly, his Digivice had started glow catching Angus by surprise. Kokatorimon on the other hand had stopped laughing to see what was happening. There was two lines appearing on his Digivice.

"Hey, does that mean?" Angus asked. He then acted quickly pulling the longer hard in a clockwise fashion.

"Quicken the sands of time! Enter the age of the Champion!"

"No, wait!" Kokatorimon yelled rushing forward.

Then, the statue of Gazimon was engulfing in a bright light. Kokatorimon cried out in pain as he stepped back holding his eyes in pain. Angus got up and ran down the stairs knowing how large Champion-level Digimon may get.

"Gazimon Digivolve to..."

The statue had started to grow larger. Angus knew that he had made a good choice of rushing downstairs judging from the size so far.

When he had finally stopped glowing, the light cleared showing Gazimon's next form. It was a large, black-scaled biped dragon. He had a pair of tattered wings, a set of sharp claws and four glowing red eyes.

"...Devidramon!"

Angus' jaw dropped at Gazimon's new form. He was actually threatening without having to try which was a major contrast to him trying so hard to be tough.

Devidramon looked over his new body looking just as stunned as Angus. He then started to laugh a bit happy before flexing his arms a bit.

"Oh heck yeah! I had been waiting far too long for this moment!" Devidramon said while laughing.

While Kokatorimon was standing there the whole time slack-jawed, he shook it off before snarling at the new Champion.

"So you had Digivolved. Big whoop." Kokatorimon scoffed. "I whip away three Champions on a daily basis. There is no way some amateur."

Devidramon narrowed his four eyes. "So you wish to start Round 2? Sounds good to me! But first..."

He then flapped his new wings. Angus raised an eyebrow wondering how they could fly when they were tattered. Devidramon then flew straight towards the surprised Kokatorimon and grabbed him before flying up the stairs. Angus acted quickly running after them.

"W-What are you doing!?" Kokatorimon demanded.

"Just taking us to a place with more room." Devidramon smirked.

After a few moments of flying up the stairs, the two had finally approached a door. Rushing towards it as fast as he could, Devidramon tackled Kokatorimon into the door knocking them down and sending them both onto the roof of the building.

Kokatorimon groaned before sitting up to see Devidramon cracking his knuckles.

"Perfect. Now I could put these babies to the test." Devidramon smirked making Kokatorimon growled.

"You are getting on my nerves, bub!" Kokatorimon snapped before rushing over. "Feather Blade!"

"Crimson Claw!" Devidramon yelled swinging his blood red claw just as Kokatorimon swung his sharp wind. The two sharp attacks clashed with each other. The two then continued to swung their respective natural weapons kept striking each other causing no clear winner.

Soon, they locked against each other as if they were fighting swords. The two then glared into each other with growls.

Suddenly, Kokatorimon smirked with his eyes turning green causing Devidramon to go wide-eyes.

"Frozen Fire Shot!" The chicken shot out his eye beams into Devidramon sending the dragon flying backwards into the side of the roof entrance. Devidramon groaned holding his head. Kokatorimon's smirk continued to grow before rushing over.

"Feather Blade!" Kokatorimon yelled swinging his razor-sharp wing at Devidramon. The latter snapped out of his daze and thought quickly flapping his wings and flying up in the side avoiding it. He then flew straight at him kicking the chicken in the side with both of his feet.

Kokatorimon staggered to the side but slowly recovered. He then looked up to see Devidramon swinging his claws at him. Letting out a shout, the publisher quickly caught both of his attacker's hand with both of his wings. He then let out a smug smirk.

However by this time, Devidramon's tail opened up like a third claw and swung it scratching Kokatorimon in the side. The bird cried out in pain giving him time for Devidramon to do a hard uppercut to his chin.

Angus had finally entered the roof to see Devidramon and Kokatorimon still fighting with each other. Angus stared in awe still not believing that Devidramon was going toe-to-toe with someone who beaten him up just earlier.

Meanwhile, the others now belonged stared up at the building in awe. They had heard loud noises from the roof.

"Wow, what do you think is going up there?" Betamon asked.

"Beats me but clearly it is no good." Paolo noted.

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard a loud noise. Turning their heads, their eyes widened when they saw someone riding a giant motorcycle towards them before whirling to the side skidding to a stop. Riding it was Beelzemon.

The biker looked at the group's faces and smirked. "Yeah, I know that my ride is awesome. You can close your mouths now."

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard another noise. This time, coming from the sky. Everyone looked up to see that Gallantmon was riding on top on a red mixture of a hovercraft and a dragon.

Gallantmon looked down at the group in confusion. "Guys, what are you doing here? I thought we said that we would handle what was happening."

"Um, yeah, well..." Ruby said shifting her eyes from left to right.

"A Gazimon had gone into the building to show the staff what exactly he thought about today's article and his partner ran off after him." Betamon pointed out.

Gallantmon's eyes widened. "What!?"

As if to confirm their point, they had a loud crash coming from the roof startling everyone.

Meanwhile, Devidramon and Kokatorimon dropped onto one knee each panting heavily. Despite they both were covered with bruises all over his body, they still glared at each other ready for more.

After what seemed like an eternity, Kokatorimon narrowed his eyes before rushing forward leaping up at Devidramon and kicking his foot out. Devidramon acted quickly and swung his tail clashing with the attack.

Kokatorimon quickly tried to make up for his mistake by launching his fist forward. However, Devidramon quickly caught it before slashing at Kokatorimon but the chicken had caught his wrist. It seemed like they were in another stalemate.

It was then Kokatorimon's eyes started to glow green as he gave a dark smirk.

"Frozen..."

"Red Eyes!"

Before Kokatorimon could unleash his attack, he noticed that red waves was emitting from Devidramon's eyes. Before Kokatorimon could react, the waves struck. The large chicken froze just like a deer staring into headlights. His entire body went limp as he weakly let go of Devidramon's wrist.

Devidramon smirked before cracking his knuckles. He then proceeded to a barrage of attacks whether they be punches, slashes or kicks to the prone body of Kokatorimon. He then finished it off by dealing a large uppercut sending the chicken flipping through the air.

Kokatorimon landed on his stomach hard. He gave a deep groan before getting up to his feet. He then snarled before glaring at Devidramon getting into a stance. The dragon however raised a couple of non-existent eyebrows before crossing his arms.

"Why?"

This confused Kokatorimon and Angus greatly.

"Huh? Why what?" Kokatorimon asked.

"Why are you going out of your way to write slander on people?" Devidramon asked. "Why are you hurting people?"

"Hurting?" Kokatorimon asked in disbelief. "I am merely giving the truth!"

"The truth!" Devidramon snapped. "Do you genuinely thought Candlemon and the other Rookie Digimon had destroyed the portal?"

"Well, Beelzemon sure seems to think so." Kokatorimon said crossing his arms.

Angus' lip quivered a bit.

"That is bull!" Devidramon roared. "You are just twisting people's words."

"So I am turning opinions into facts. Big whoop." Kokatorimon said shrugging his shoulders.

Angus winced as he looked down shaking in place.

"And you wonder why I am going after you?" Devidramon asked.

Kokatorimon let out a deep laugh. "Oh, I could see why. I just don't see why your idea would work! I am part of the media! I could easily say that you were the one attacking me out of psychotic spite and everyone would believe me!"

Angus held his chest tightly.

"And do you really think that Gallantmon and Beelzemon would like you get away with it?" Devidramon challenged.

"Heh. Do you think I was just lucky keeping this business alive for so long? No, I do so by sweet-talking authority figures that the facts more or less came from THEIR words." Kokatorimon said waving it off. "That and Gallantmon and Beelzemon aren't that bright."

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Kokatorimon and Devidramon's eyes widened before turning their heads. They then saw Angus leaning against the rooftop entrance trying to keep himself standing up laughing hysterically.

Devidramon stood there wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Angus haven't given a single smirk since he had first met the red-haired youth and now he was laughing like a madman. Granted, he knew fully well as to WHY he was laughing so much but still.

Kokatorimon on the other hand blinked twice before narrowing his eyes. "I fail to see what is so funny!"

"Indeed, there is absolutely NOTHING to laugh at here."

Kokatorimon yelped as he left a cold chill over his body. Slowly turning his head, he saw that Gallantmon standing right behind him on his hovercraft. He had his arms crossed and eyes narrowed signalling that he was not happy.

Kokatorimon gave a quick yelp. "Um, how much have you heard?"

"Everything." Gallantmon said darkly as Devidramon smirked crossing his arms.

Kokatorimon winced before chuckling nervously. "Aw, come on, buddy, I wouldn't think that I would say that about you, do you?"

"Well, apparently you do considering how little you care for anyone else." Gallantmon noted. "I am taking you in for slander."

Kokatorimon's eyes widened. "What!? But I can't be arrested! Who would run the Candour Times?"

"Well, considering that the Candour Times had been running nothing but lies, it may be shut down permanently." Gallantmon said narrowing his eyes.

Kokatorimon's eyes widened before turning around to glare at Devidramon and Angus who were had happily stopped laughing. Both of them were giving him smug smirks.

"You! I'll remember this!" Kokatorimon snapped.

"Good, I want people to remember that we took you down!" Devidramon smugly smirked.

Kokatorimon growled just as Gallantmon grabbed him from behind and put his hand behind his back.

"Come on." Gallantmon said coldly. "You have a LOT to answer for ESPECIALLY for Beelzemon."

Kokatorimon winced as Gallantmon dragged him over to the hovercraft before taking one final look at Angus and Devidramon.

"I understand that you wanted to take down this crook but please we would to be able to at least arrest this man alone." Gallantmon instructed. "You shouldn't had gone alone."

Devidramon winced as Gallantmon descended down to the ground. He then turned around to see Angus crossed his arms glaring angrily at Devidramon. The Champion looked down knowing why he was mad.

"Devidramon, was it?" Angus asked as the Digimon nodded. "Well, Devidramon, what were you thinking going off after Kokatorimon alone!"

Devidramon winced before looking down. "I'm... Sorry, boss. I... Just wanted to show you how strong you are."

"Well, you did in the end." Angus pointed out. "However at the same time, do you realize what would happen if you DIDN'T Digivolve? Also, our reputations would had been ruined if Gallantmon didn't show up whether you Digivolved or not!"

Devidramon hanged his head down in sadness feeling like he had let down Angus.

"However..."

Devidramon raised his head. However, he obviously did so a little bit seeing how large he was compared to Angus.

"...I could also see why you did it." Angus said with a sigh. "I don't like hanging around and being buddy-buddy with other people. I merely just saw you as a way to explore the Digital World in case I got attacked."

Devidramon winced a bit at this.

"However, I realized that you did all of this just to show me how much of a reliable partner you are and while I STILL thought your actions was stupid..." Angus said before looking down sadly. "But... If I had just treated you better, none of this would have happened..."

"Boss..." Devidramon said sadly.

"So let's make a deal. If I actually treat you as a partner, you will stop doing these stupid things, deal?" Angus asked looking up.

Devidramon's red eyes lit up when he heard this. He nodded his head happy that Angus was saying this.

"Yes, boss! I will never go off on my own like that ever again!" Devidramon grinned.

Angus nodded his head though he looked to the side. Even though he knew for a fact that he had to treat Devidramon like a partner. However, to do that, he had to trust him. It was not like his partner had done anything to be untrustworthy but looks could be deceiving.

_"I learned that the hard way..."_

"So boss."

Angus turned his head to see Devidramon looking solemnly.

"Seeing that we are going to be partners, how do you think we would find a place?" Devidramon asked.

Angus paused before crossing his arms. "Good point. While we had accomplished a lot, we still need a place to stay... Where should we stay? I mean it is not like there is anyone who would just g..."

Suddenly, his eyes widened.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Word of Kokatorimon's arrest and his lies had went around fast throughout the entire city quite quickly. All of the people who been victims of the Candour Times' slander couldn't be more happier. Except for Babamon and Angewomon who had to cancel the bills and was back to square one.

Soon, news had hit Kokatorimon's lackeys and they were shocked to hear that their boss had been fired. They all made their way back to the building looking discouraged.

"Man, I can't believe that the boss had been arrested." Chameleonmon lamented.

Boogeymon on the other hand scoffed. "Well, good riddance to bad bosses! All he ever did was hit us if our stories were too "generic"."

"Hey!" Seahomon said narrowing his eyes as he hopped across the ground. "The reason he got arrested was because he decided to "spice things up" and now he is paying himself!"

"Yeah..." Chameleonmon said turning his head. "Though I have to wonder if we would be next seeing that we are accomplices."

Seahomon and Boogeymon winced at this knowing that their reptilian ally was right. They were the ones who had snapped a lot of pictures and took a lot of information for Kokatorimon to fabricate and caused a lot of misery for a lot of people.

"Hey, what they don't know doesn't hurt anyone. Especially us." Boogeymon reassured.

"Oh really?"

The three Digimon's eyes turned before turning their heads to see Angus and Gazimon crossing their arms tightly glaring at the mismatched trio.

"Wait, aren't you that Angus guy and his Gazimon who was there at the Greymon attack?" Chameleonmon asked recognizing the two.

"The very one." Gazimon said feeling a lot better about admitting it.

"Um, what are you doing here?" Seahomon asked shifting his eyes from left to right.

"We knew for a fact that the staff would sooner or later come back here for one reason or another." Angus said crossing his arms.

Gazimon gave a smug smirk. "We were worried that your buddy would be lonely in the joint so we decided to wait to see who else were in the staff so that we could have you guys join him!"

The three Digimon yelped when they heard this. Much to Angus and Gazimon's surprise, they immediately started to bow before them as if they were gods.

"Please! We genuinely want to quit using slander in our newspaper!" Chameleonmon begged.

"We were perfectly okay with normal stories but Kokatorimon made us twist the truth! Honest!" Seahomon insisted.

"If you truly seen Kokatorimon, you would truly see how cruel and unforgiving he is!" Boogeymon pleaded. "He used force to make us to work for him."

Angus and Gazimon looked down in awe at how easy for them to get Kokatorimon's lackeys to falter.

"Whoa..." Gazimon scratched the back of his head. "I always wanted a reaction like this but this... Is kinda overwhelming."

Angus shook his head before narrowing his eyes. "I don't care WHY you did it. You STILL helped that crook and hurt a lot of people and now you bozos have to pay for your crimes!"

The three winced at this.

"So which decision would it be?"

The three raised their heads in confusion.

"Um, what decision?" Chameleon asked.

"Well, the boss and I are currently looking for a place. However, we want a place to ourselves because we don't like sharing with other people." Gazimon smirked crossing his arms.

"In short, we have a choice. You could either turn yourselves in and do some time in jail." Angus said coolly. "OR you could find us a place of our own."

The three Digimon paused before looking at each other knowing that it wasn't a hard choice in the slightest.

"Hey, Chameleon, do you still have the bo... Um, Kokatorimon's key?" Seahomon asked.

The reptile's eyes widened at this before reaching in his armor and pulling out a key.

"Oh, yes I do! You guys could have his apartment!" Chameleonmon smiled.

Angus raised an eyebrow. "Apartment? You mean we have to pay for rent?"

"Don't worry about it!" Boogeymon said quickly waving it off. "We will all pay for the rent for you until the portal reopens and you can go home!"

"With all of the panic, they should be some jobs we could join to work." Chameleonmon said hastily nodding.

"Heh. If those guys weren't accomplices to that jerk, I would had say that I almost felt sorry for taking advantage of them like this." Gazimon smirked putting his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, almost." Angus said sternly. "Okay, show us the place and we will have a deal."

The three Champion Digimon nodded their heads happily before turning around walking off happy that they weren't going to be arrested. Meanwhile, Angus and Gazimon slowly followed looking more than pleased that they would have a place to stay for a while.

"That was awesome! I actually felt like I am a bodyguard to a mob boss!" Gazimon grinned.

"Mob boss? That is what I seem like to you?" Angus muttered looking a bit insulted

Gazimon looked up at Angus with a wide grin completely oblivious to his disgust. "Yep, and as your bodyguard, I will stick with you towards the bitter end!"

Angus stayed silent for a moment. "Gazimon..."

The Digimon's grin vanished. "W-What?"

Angus then glanced down for a moment. "I am remembering those exact words you just said. I can easily assume that you are going to do the same?"

Gazimon paused before narrowing his eyes. "Yes, I will, boss."

Angus again stayed silent before nodding his head. "All right, just as long as you remember that."

With that, he went on ahead following the three Digimon leaving Gazimon looking determined. Without turning his head, he glanced back at Gazimon.

_"Maybe... He would be one to trust, after all."_


End file.
